Leave Out all the Rest
by DC-MarvelGirl 1997
Summary: Set after events of season 2, members of the Friends of Humanity have Cyclops and Jean Grey's daughter, Rachel Summers, as a hostage ever since the disbanding of the Hound program. Appearances of Wolverine, Cyclops and Jean, Rated M for themes of sexual assault, language, ect.
1. Prologue

**Alright everyone, I was inspired to write a fanfiction for The Gifted since season 2 comes back in September. I know in season 2 they are doing Hellfire Club, but, the way I am setting this up is after the Hellfire Club . . . think of this story taking place a year or so after that. I feel that a character that would be perfect for The Gifted would be Rachel Summers because she's the daughter of Scott Summers and Jean Grey from an alternate reality in which she is their first and only daughter. We were teased an image of the character during season one when we saw the Hound program and there was a redheaded girl sitting in a cell that happened to look very much like Rachel's comic counterpart. I wanted to write this because I love giving characters a tortured backstory, so, here we go with Leave Out All The Rest. If you like what you see, then by all means, favorite, follow and review for more chapters to come.**

 _' **This right here means psychic communication and thoughts'**_

 **Rated M for themes of violence, explicit language and sexual content. Discretion is advised!**

* * *

She could feel herself breaking down, physically, emotionally and mentally.

The tears soaked her face as she felt the heavy amount of sea water pouring over her head as she let out a violent sob. She was still wearing the collar that she had worn as a Hound mutant, but at this point, she was left in a filthy, torn gown and her underwear. She was tied down to her chair with plastic zip-ties around her wrists, which were embedded deeply into her flesh and cutting into her skin, the blood around her wrists soaking her hands as well.

No seventeen-year-old should ever have to be put through something like this.

This girl's name was Rachel Summers. And she knew why she was here . . . she was the daughter of Scott Summers – Cyclops, and Dr. Jean Grey, two of the founding members of the X-Men. Of course, that was why she was here. She was here because she was the daughter of a woman who was viewed as a weapon of mass destruction.

For Rachel Summers, the Phoenix Force was in her blood. Her mother had been a host for the Phoenix, and it got passed down to Rachel as a result of Rachel being her daughter. The raw, unlimited power pumped in her veins, granting her power of matter manipulation, energy absorption, space and time control, pyro-kinesis, advanced telekinesis and telepathy and a variety of other cosmic powers that were on a God-like scale beyond anyone's wildest dreams.

It had all started with 7/15, the day that everything for mutants went to shit.

Rachel had been in the Xavier Institute, training in the Danger Room with the other children of the institute and Professor X supervising their training. She had wanted to go to the protest that day, the peaceful protest, but, her mom and dad insisted that she stay home with Uncle Xavier, because the last time she had been to one of the counter-protests standing up for mutant rights, a bullet had nearly shot at her right through Auntie Ororo. That was why her father and mother had insisted she stay home the day of 7/15, because they didn't want to see anything bad happen to their only daughter.

That was when things turned for the worse.

Something had gone wrong at the protest, and as a result, almost all the mutants there disappeared. After those events, that was when the Xavier Institute had gotten attacked by federal troops, who had bombed the mansion. When they had gone inside to collect all the burned, bloody dead bodies, they had gone inside to see that Rachel had been the sole survivor there, coughing from the smoke with blood running down the side of her face as she laid beside the dead body of Professor Charles Xavier.

As a result, the troops had collared her and injected her with the Kick drug. She had gotten dragged to the Hound Program HQ where she had been tortured brutally, being forced to arrest and kill fellow mutants. However, ever since the Hound program discontinued, Rachel had been transferred to an HQ for the Friends of Humanity.

Friends of Humanity . . . the representation of everything that was so inhuman, Rachel couldn't see how they could have any humanity at all.

It was in this horrible place that she would have begged to have been a Hound again.

In this place, Rachel was treated with nothing but humiliation. Slurs and words like 'bitch', 'freak', 'mutie' and 'whore' were tossed at her constantly. She had been stripped of the clothing she had worn in the Hound program to a dirty, torn gown and only her underwear, being forced to stand against a wall and be whipped across her back, leaving her back covered in dirty, bloody, infected scratches. She was barely allowed to shower, and she was deprived of food and water, only being allowed to eat disgusting gruel that was cold and shoved down her throat, but, there was no point in that because she would just vomit it back up again. She was tortured every hour of every day with no one there to listen to the sound of her cries but the cruel and heartless guards from the Friends of Humanity. She was spat on, water boarded, beaten black and blue and sexually assaulted at least every hour. There were no breaks. At this point, she had several nasty, infected cuts on her forehead, and she had finger markings around her throat that had left her neck bruised due to her being choked so many times. She would have an electrical rod shoved against her stomach, torturing her with the shocks of electricity. As far as she knew, this has been going on for a full year.

Currently, she had a gag in her mouth, which was what the guards resulted to now because she wouldn't stop screaming. They got sick of hearing her screaming . . .

Rachel let out a violent sob as she felt the guards starting to beat her again, kicking her and punching her in the stomach and chest. Only one thought could run through her mind at this point.

 _'Mom . . . Daddy . . .'_

* * *

 **Alright everyone, that's my prologue . . . let me know what you think and be sure to leave reviews here on the fanfiction website, or send them to me via PM-**

 **Danielle.**


	2. Chapter 1

'It's been a month since it all went to shit,' thought Lauren Strucker as she laid on her bed in the apartment complex she was occupying with her mother and younger brother.

It was a month after the defeat of Reeva Paige. The patriarch of the Strucker family, Reed, had given a noble sacrifice to save his family. He had defeated Reeva at the cost of his own life. The Hellfire Club was defeated. But now, anti-mutant sentiment was continuing to be on the rise.

Lauren continued laying there. She and Andy had grieved their father. Clarice and Erg had grieved the Morlocks. Esme Frost was mourning the deaths of her two sisters that she had had left. Lorna was additionally in mourning over the actions she had committed; add to that, her and Marcos' daughter Aurora was still in hiding with Lorna's aunt. Everyone was mentally preparing for what could potentially come.

The Mutant Underground and the Morlocks were gone. That meant Esme, Lorna, Clarice, Erg, Caitlin, Lauren, Andy, Marcos and John were the only ones left to continue the legacy. There were still many mutants on the run who were in need of safe harbor from the Purifiers. But in the news, it appeared as though the Friends of Humanity were beginning to collaborate with the Purifiers. It was by far more dangerous with the Purifiers and the FOH collaborating to spread hatred and fear.

As Lauren sat up, she took notice to her alarm clock saying that it was one o'clock in the morning. She also noticed her brother – who had recently allowed his hair to go back to its natural chestnut brown – was wide awake too. Both could hardly sleep ever since they had lost their father.

"You can't sleep?" Lauren asked as she rubbed her blue eyes. Not that she needed to ask, though. Her and Andy's telepathic connection seemed to be growing stronger the more time they were around one another. They kept going to Esme, but even she couldn't begin to understand their connection. Sure, she had had one with her sisters and could feel everything, but that did not mean she was the most knowledgeable telepath in the world.

Andy breathed out a sigh. "Yeah," he whispered. Both proceeded to stretch their limbs and walked into the living room area of the apartment complex. They had relocated to the city of Newark, New Jersey. They were living in a rundown complex not too far away from the Newark Rutger's campus. Next door to them were Clarice, John, Marcos and Lorna, as well as Esme and Erg who had their own apartments. Luckily, the landlord who owned the apartment complex was mutant-friendly and had several refugees already there.

Walking into the living room space, they could see Caitlin was awake as well, sitting up on the couch watching the all-night news reports from Hawk News. She had dark circles underneath her eyes from the lack of sleep she'd been getting.

"Mom?" Andy asked softly. He sat down on the sofa next to his mother, who pulled him to her chest in an embrace, Lauren joining in.

"The FOH and the Purifiers seem to be not giving up," Caitlin whispered.

"They're relentless," Lauren said. "It's all getting worse now, more than ever. And needing to rebuild the Mutant Underground is putting even more weight on our shoulders more than ever. I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"Agreed, Lauren." Andy's voice sounded as though he were scoffing. "And to think a year ago, Lorna, Sage and I all thought that joining the Inner Circle would be the key to peace. It was the key to destruction. Now look at where we are."

"You can't blame yourself for that, Andy. And Dad made his choice when he chose to face Reeva," Lauren pointed out.

"She's right, Andy," Caitlin whispered as her eyes misted over with tears at the thought of her late husband. She missed Reed tremendously every day. He was the love of her life, and she was convinced that he still was, somehow. She did not believe she would ever get over the loss of her husband.

As the three remnants of the Strucker family sat there, they could hear activity going on outside. They could hear knocking at their door. They knew Marcos, John and Lorna had been patrolling that night since they were all having trouble sleeping as well. The loss of Reed had hit them hard, too. For Marcos, Reed had been a better father to him than his own father had been. John had felt a true connection to Reed when he'd begun tutoring Reed on how to control his powers.

"Caitlin!" John said, knocking on the door a little louder.

"We're coming, John!" Andy said, getting up to unlock the door. However, the sight that greeted them left all three in surprise.

John and Marcos were supporting someone between them. However, it was not just anybody. It was the familiar face of Logan Howlett – the Wolverine – one of the X-men members.

The sighting of Wolverine was shocking. Everyone had been so sure that all the X-men were dead. To see that one was still alive was a shock to the system, especially for Andy and Lauren who had grown up watching the X-men on the news and in a way, idolizing them. They had heard the stories of how the X-men had defeated Apocalypse . . . how Jean Grey had become the Phoenix . . . how they had stopped Magneto from turning the world's leaders on Liberty Island into mutants. Many had been so sure they were just myths. But to see Wolverine standing there in the flesh being supported between John and Marcos stunned Andy, Lauren and Caitlin into silence.

He appeared to be injured with bullet wounds that were closing up and healing. He was panting hard for breaths, and his eyes were closed. Instantly, Caitlin led Marcos, Logan and John to the sofa, turning off the news and closing the door.

"We found him while we were out on patrol duty," Marcos grunted as he and John hauled Logan towards the sofa, leaning him onto it. "We knew who he was when we saw him . . . the FOH attacked him."

"Shit," cursed out Caitlin as she took notice that the bullet wounds on Logan's chest were already closing up and healing. As far as she could tell, he did not need immediate medical attention at all. But Andy and Lauren were still standing there with their jaws dropping to the floor. As Caitlin went to grab disinfectant and cotton pads, her arm was grabbed by Logan's hand.

"Don't need anything," Logan grunted out, his eyes closed tightly. "If ya know anything about me, you'd know about my healing factor."

Caitlin nodded, suddenly remembering. She remembered how the X-men had appeared as names under Mutant Registration. Full information about their powers and their addresses had been released publicly after the Mutant Registration Act had begun.

"Mind tellin' me where it is that I am?" he asked.

"You're in safe harbor. You're with what is left of the Mutant Underground," Marcos informed him.

Logan nodded, opening his eyes to reveal the dark brown – almost black irises – that were staring back at them. His eyes seemed to be hardened by the years of the X-men having been missing. It would make sense, though. The X-men had been the only family he had ever had.

"Good . . . wait, what happened with the Mutant Underground?" he asked.

"You didn't hear about it?" asked John in a serious tone, speaking former soldier to former soldier with Logan.

"Nah," Logan said. "All's I know was that the Mutant Underground had been put in place as the last resort. It was what Chuck left behind, before the Xavier Institute blew to shit. Yer best off filling me in on what the fuck's been going on."

"First, do you mind answering some questions first? How many X-men survived? Have you been in contact with anyone?" asked John.

"No, no I haven't been in contact with anyone. But I have been lookin' fer two of 'em . . . Scott Summers and Jean Grey. Their bodies hadn't been found by anyone. That tells me, those two have been on the run this whole time. And I've been hearin' rumors . . . somethin' about their kid, Rachel, having been part of the Hound program. But it's all smoke and mirrors at this point because I do not know it to be true. I haven't been able to find their scent anywhere," Logan explained as he leaned back into the sofa.

"At least that's a start. But I have to say . . . the Mutant Underground, it's over," John whispered.

"The fuck ya talkin' about?" Logan asked.

"We'll need to fill you in on quite a bit," Lauren whispered, still trying to get over the shock of seeing one of the X-men in her presence.

John, Caitlin, Andy and Marcos proceeded to fill Logan in on everything that had happened over the past few months. From the fall of the Underground, to the Inner Circle's attempt at rising by manipulating the anti-mutant media . . . Logan sat there, taking it all in.

"Well shit," Logan groaned. "So what are you all attempting at now?"

"Trying to do whatever we can to keep something going," Andy said. "If we just gave up, my dad's sacrifice would be for nothing."

"At least one good thing came out of the von Strucker legacy, considering all the shit yer ancestors caused," Logan grunted.

"But there is something we need to ask you. What were you doing? How did you run into the FOH?" asked Lauren.

"I was searchin' fer any other X-men that may have survived. Most I know . . . there were a few bodies that hadn't been found, yet that is. In addition to Cyclops and Jean Grey . . . Shadowcat and Iceman's bodies hadn't been found anywhere, either. I just feel that somehow, those four survived. The others are all gone. As far as I know, Storm and Beast are dead. Their bodies had been found," Logan whispered, his voice tinged with bitterness and a hint of sadness.

"Alright, so four possible X-men might have been survivors, as well as Cyclops and Jean's daughter. But the issue is how do we begin searching?" John asked.

"I've been trying to catch their scents fer a while now. But I hadn't been able to find anything. But I can say this, I did find out about the Inner Circle being taken down," Logan whispered. "That was one thing I did hear about . . . and I've been around quite a few bars. Most of 'em have consisted of some loud-mouthed FOH members bragging about how they've got a crazy, telepathic redhead in their custody. That was enough evidence fer me to know they've got Cyclops and Jean's daughter as a hostage." Logan's voice was tinged with disgust as he said the last half of it.

Lauren and Andy stood there, taking this all in. The fact that the Friends of Humanity had the audacity to brag about having someone's child as a hostage made them both feel sick. But from their experience with the Hound program, they had been exposed to how arrogant prejudice people could be.

"Well, there's not much we can do at this point," Caitlin said.

"But what is there to do?" Andy asked.

"We go searching tomorrow, and see what we can find," John said. "I'll see if I can track Scott and Jean. If they're close enough, they should be easy to find."

"Good," Caitlin whispered as she closed her eyes in exhaustion.

"Cait, Andy, Lauren did you guys sleep at all?" Marcos asked.

Andy and Lauren looked at Marcos incredulously. "What do you think?" Lauren asked with a shake of her head.

"You should try to," John advised softly.

Caitlin turned to Logan. "You can take the couch for the rest of the night," she said. "I know two other members who have got other rooms available, that is if they'll be willing."

Logan nodded a gruff thanks in Caitlin's direction as Lauren and Andy went back to their bedroom to try and will sleep to come.

* * *

 _The sounds of muffled screams . . . the feeling of a horrendous, torturous pain ripping through her insides . . . salty tears on her cheeks. It was pain . . . pure pain. Her breath hitching . . . the sounds of males' groans and grunts as their hands roamed her prone body . . ._

With a loud gasp, Jean Grey-Summers awoke from her uneasy slumber she had managed to fall into. Her eyes opening, Jean could feel her breath catching in her throat as she clutched her forehead in the palm of her hand.

The dream she had just had . . . it brought her a horrible feeling of anxiety that formed a sickness in the pit of her stomach. Her dreams she was experiencing seemed to be getting more graphic. Her sleeps were beginning to be interrupted by dreams that had her awaking in the middle of the night screaming. Unfortunately for Jean, the dreams seemed to be happening more frequently than typical.

Beside her, laying on the floor of the abandoned apartment that they were occupying, Scott Summers stirred with a groan. Looking up at his wife behind his ruby-quartz sleeping goggles, Scott slowly sat up and wrapped his arms around his wife.

"What is it?" he murmured into her hair, rubbing her back as he pulled her into his chest lovingly.

"My dreams . . . they keep getting worse," Jean whispered.

"Jean, you hadn't had nightmares this graphic since your Phoenix dreams," Scott whispered in worry, rubbing circles on her back and kissing her forehead.

"These feel different," Jean whispered. _'Why do these dreams feel worse than the ones when I was about to go Dark Phoenix? I cannot pinpoint exactly what it is . . .'_

Through their wide-open psychic link, Scott could hear what Jean was thinking. "Jean, maybe these dreams are happening because you are just stressing yourself like crazy."

"Well, yeah!" Jean said as the tears formed in her eyes. "I mean . . . 7/15 may have been years ago, but that was around the same time we got separated from Rachel. Then we're hearing rumors she might've been a Hound mutant . . ."

"Jean, Jean, I know you're worried about her. I am too . . . I miss her so much," Scott murmured. "But we will find her eventually. Please, just try to fall back asleep for me."

Jean shook her head into Scott's chest as the tears streamed down from her eyes. Scott pulled her even closer to him as he leaned back into the mattress they were sleeping on together. Kissing her forehead one more time, Scott continued to try and soothe his wife with gentle words.

"Jean, you're not doing yourself much good right now," Scott whispered. "Just try to relax, please."

"Scott, you know why I can't," Jean whispered. "I'll relax, when Rachel's home."

Scott closed his eyes as he felt them starting to sting. He struggled to hold his tears back as he tried to stay strong for his wife. Over their years of being on the run and being in hiding, the two felt as though this was by far the worst they ever could have gone through. After the 7/15 attacks had happened all those years ago, they had heard the horrible news that the Xavier Institute had been bombed. Professor Xavier had been found dead. Their daughter had been the only survivor. They could only assume Rachel's mutant powers had manifested during the bombing, because she had been found alive. Her powers had kicked in as an act of defense.

As a result, Jean and Scott had to resort to hearing the stories about how their daughter was a Hound mutant. Just hearing it made the two parents feel sick. Jean felt the guilt of having not been there to protect her child. Scott felt as though he failed his daughter. She was their only child . . . their baby. As the two fell back asleep with a strong sense of foreboding, Scott and Jean could only pray that wherever Rachel was, she was alright.

' _Rachel . . . wherever you are, hang tough,'_ Scott thought as he closed his eyes tightly, holding Jean closely to him as he rocked her back to sleep.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **I appreciate the reviews on the prologue! Thank you for the response on the beginning of a story I am very proud and happy to do! Reviews are always appreciated. Be sure to continue to review, follow and favorite if you want to see more!**

 **Also, be sure to go and check out my fanfiction collaboration with MarvelMaster 616, Peace in Our Time! -**

 **DC-MarvelGirl 1997**


	3. Chapter 2

The stinging of sea water hitting her open wounds was all Rachel could feel as it poured over her head. The briny water mixed with the tears streaming down from her eyes as she felt the aching of her arms from being suspended by a butcher's hook.

The delirious pain flowed through her entire body as she struggled to stay conscious. She could feel the guards lifting the soiled gown she was wearing. She flinched away, feeling her face burning as one of them began to fondle her breasts roughly before taking off her dirty, bloody, torn underwear. A guard roughly slashed against the rope binding her to the butcher's hook, catching the skin on her wrists as she fell to the cold floor of her cell in a bloody heap. Her wrists were tied up again with the zip-ties, this time behind her back as the power-dampening collar around her neck was attached to a chain in the wall.

Two of the guards forced her to lay on her stomach as one of them climbed on top of her. She could hear him unzipping his pants and felt him pressing himself against her as his member grew hard. With that, he entered her while the other guard pressed her face hard against a pillow to smother her and muffle her screams.

The guard raping her pounded into her like a mad animal, grunting and sweating as Rachel screamed and cried. Her ankles were tied so tightly with the zip-ties that all circulation was cut off. She could feel her wrists growing bloodier the more she struggled to try and break free. However, the more she struggled, the worse she was beaten. The guard smothering her grabbed her hair and pulled hard out of effort to try and shut her up. When the guard raping her was done, the one smothering her took position, climbing on top of her to take his turn as well. The one who had just raped her pulled out a dirty sock, shoving it into her mouth before slamming a piece of duct tape over her lips. The Friends of Humanity guards were determined to keep Rachel where she was laying.

The second guard proceeded to do to Rachel the same as the first one did. With that, Rachel screamed louder as she felt the burning, horrendous pain searing through her body. When the second guard finished raping her, he got off of her, flipping her over onto her back as he and first guard proceeded to beat her.

Rachel screamed and cried as she felt the two Friends of Humanity members beating her with crowbars. She could feel the bone in her right knee shatter, and her ribs breaking. One of them punched her in face, causing the bruise on her eye to throb worse than before. By the time they finished beating her, Rachel was back to being a bloody, sweaty mess on the floor. All she could do was bawl as a third guard came into the room, this time with gruel.

The thought of food made the teenager want to vomit. She knew it would be no use feeding her, as the food refused to stay in her stomach and she just threw it back up. The guard holding the bowl of gruel went over and ungagged her, shoving the cold, disgusting slop down her throat.

Rachel felt the cold, slimy mush being shoved into her mouth and down her throat as the guard forced her to swallow it by lifting her head roughly by the hair. However, it was no use as her gag reflex reacted due to her nausea, and she began to throw up the little water and stale bread she'd consumed earlier.

Her entire body shuddered hard as she threw up, her breathing hitching terribly as she vomited for every moment she'd suffered in this horrible place. The guard who was gripping her hair let go, letting her head slam into the vomit. The smell alone caused Rachel to dry-heave.

' _Why?'_ she thought as tears poured down her face. _'I never asked to be a mutant. I never wanted this. What have I done to deserve this?'_

By the time her dry-heaves stopped, the three guards proceeded to start beating her again as they taunted her, shoving the filthy sock down her throat to keep her from speaking.

"Whore."

"Bitch."

"Mutie."

"Freak."

The words stung as Rachel felt the bones in her body breaking as the guards kicked her in her stomach, which was covered in blue and purple bruises. She felt one of the guards' boots slam into her face. Another proceeded to pull down his pants. Rachel thought for sure he was going to rape her orally. Instead, though, she felt the guard urinating on her.

The smell of the urine made Rachel's stomach flip with sickness as the other two guards laughed callously. When the guard urinating on her got off of her, Rachel desperately tried to roll over onto her stomach so she could try to crawl away. But the chain attached to her collar stopped her from going further.

"Oh, look at that. The bitch is trying to escape!" one of them laughed as he kicked her again. That was when a fourth guard came into the room with a bucket of water, leaving it there and walking out of the room. The three guards grabbed Rachel by her neck, lifting her to her knees before slamming her head into the water, holding her head underneath the water.

Rachel's tears poured down from her eyes as her head was pulled in and out of the icy water. By the time they finished waterboarding her, Rachel's body began to feel weaker as her body collapsed to the floor. She felt one of the guards ripping at the gown, exposing her shoulder and revealing more of her naked flesh. They were determined to break her. Finally, with one last kick to her chest, two of the three guards left the room while one stayed there with her, watching her squirm in pain and shudder violently.

The guard watched Rachel with a dark glare on his face as her sobs escaped her chest. They just wouldn't leave her alone even though they knew she couldn't escape. There was always one watching her.

Rachel continued to lay there, helpless. Each day, she lost hope of ever seeing her family again. Every time she closed her eyes, the graphic image of Professor X's charred, dead body filled her mind. She could remember the expression on his face . . . it had been a look of fear and suffering.

As she lay there, she could only allow one thought to envelope her mind.

' _Daddy . . . M-Momma, please, h-help me!'_

* * *

' _Daddy . . . M-Momma, please, h-help me!'_

Those words flooded the mind of Jean Grey-Summers as she burst awake again with a gasp. Each moment, her nightmares grew more graphic with images that haunted her. Upon opening her eyes, she could see it was light out. She also took notice to the fact that her husband wasn't in bed with her.

' _He must've gone to get us something to eat,'_ Jean thought as she closed her eyes, her stomach churning as she thought about the dream she had just had.

These nightmares seemed to feel ten times worse than the nightmares she had experienced before becoming Dark Phoenix. Somehow, Jean felt the foreboding sense that maybe, her nightmares might be connected to Rachel. She'd heard the sounds of someone whimpering for her parents. And the images that flashed through her mind were of a girl with red hair who looked just like her. The thought made Jean's heart constrict as she tightened her blankets around her body. She closed her eyes tight, willing to stop the tears from reaching her eyes.

She was startled by the sound of the door opening and closing. Opening her eyes, she could see her husband walking into the room, a 7-11 bag in his hand and two cups of coffee.

"Hey, Jean. I'd managed to get us something halfway decent," he whispered, going over to her with her cup of coffee and a buttered roll.

"Thank you," Jean said quietly as she rubbed a hand over her forehead.

"Nightmares again?" Scott asked as he sat next to her.

Jean nodded, leaning into her husband as his arm came around her. He rubbed her shoulder gently. "I-I keep having this feeling my dreams are connected to Rachel."

"How is that possible?" Scott's voice was filled with love and concern.

"We both have access to the Phoenix Force, Scott," Jean whispered. "It wouldn't be a coincidence that we are somehow connected deeper to each other."

"It might also be your mom intuition," Scott pointed out, kissing his wife on the forehead lovingly. "Look, just try to not worry, as much. Okay? We will find her, eventually. You just need to try and have some faith."

Jean shook her head. "Scott, we've been looking for her for years. What if this is a sign, somehow?"

"It could be. But we cannot know for sure," Scott whispered. "I'm going to go looking for more answers, today. I haven't read the newspaper or attempt at listening to the news in a while."

"It's all too depressing," Jean said quietly. "The only good news that seemed to come was the fall of the Inner Circle. Though I haven't heard news about the Mutant Underground. The only news I did hear was that Evangeline Whedon got killed by somebody . . . we can only assume that it's Purifiers." She shuddered slightly as she clenched her eyes a little tighter.

The couple just stayed there together, holding each other as they tried to reassure one another through their psychic bond.

* * *

Meanwhile, across the city of Newark, Logan Howlett, John Proudstar and Erg were out and about. Surprisingly, moving to Newark hadn't been too difficult. With Caitlin working at a nearby mutant clinic to bring in an income, they were able to afford living in the apartment complex. However, walking through the city of Newark brought dangers they could not imagine.

Having moved from Washington, D.C out of effort to hide from the Purifiers, what was left of the Mutant Underground were intending to keep as low of a profile as possible. Caitlin, Lauren and Andy all had to disguise themselves so that they were not easily recognized as the Strucker family. For Logan, had had been on the run since 7/15, and had been searching for missing X-men members across the country. According to Logan, he'd been hiding with the Mutant Underground of Los Angeles, California, hoping to find answers as to what had happened. Unfortunately, nobody knew for sure. It made details vague.

Walking through the city, Logan, John and Erg kept hoods of hooded jackets up over their heads. Keeping their heads down, Logan desperately attempted to sniff, looking for any familiar scent. John was making the attempt at sensing anyone who could possibly be nearby.

Walking past the campus of Rutgers University, the three mutants continued with their patrol duty. Logan kept his hands shoved in his pockets.

"I do not know why you are insisting on searching Logan. There have not been any X-men seen since the attacks," Erg said cynically.

"How's about ya shut yer trap, Erg?" Logan growled, glaring at the former Morlocks leader and feeling tempted to pop a claw out. "The X-men have done more to fight for the rights of mutants while you have been hiding in the fucking sewers! Ya don't know shit about what I had to go through tryin' to search fer anyone! Hell, I would even take running into a member of the Brotherhood!"

"Enough, the both of you," John said sternly.

Logan and Erg instantly quieted at John's command as they continued to walk along. Breathing out a sigh, Logan suddenly came to a stop when he smelled a strong scent in the air.

' _It can't be,'_ he thought. _'But . . . it is. I can smell her. I know her scent anywhere.'_

"Hold up, I smell something," Logan said as he walked in the direction of some abandoned apartment buildings in the city.

"I can sense it too," John said, standing still as he sensed the presence of two mutants in the building. "Someone is here. They're close."

Logan allowed his nose to lead him in the direction the scent was growing stronger. Walking in the direction of the abandoned apartment building. As they got closer, Logan's nose was picking up on the strong, familiar scent that was slightly sweet-smelling, but it was mixed with anxiety and sweat. It smelled like a mixture of Scott with Jean. It did not surprise him, though. The two spent so much time together, their scents mixed into one. For once, Logan felt happy to pick up on Scott's scent.

Walking into the building, Logan sniffed along as John continued to pick up on Scott and Jean's presence, which was growing stronger than previously. Finally, they were outside a door that looked as though it had been opened recently. Logan sniffed again, and the scent he'd been trying to find this whole time came to his nostril stronger. He could hear the sounds of anxious breathing and hearts pounding with fear and anxiety. Breathing out a sigh, Logan knew he had to get in there. The minute he opened the door, however, a mess of auburn hair came flying forward as Jean practically launched herself at him in relief. Shortly before Jean had come forward, Scott had unexpectedly ran over, too. Never had Scott once thought he'd be happy to see Logan standing there.

"Never thought I'd be glad to see you," Scott said, remembering the words he had said after he and Jean had first encountered Logan. It had been back in the year of 1982, when they had been fifteen years old. Scott had said the words of, "I hope we don't have to see him again."

"Likewise," Logan said as Jean released him from the embrace. Jean had tears streaking her face. Never had she and Scott thought they'd see Logan again. Ever since the 7/15 attacks, they had been looking for some kind of sign that someone had survived. Logan was living, breathing proof of it. It brought both X-men leaders nothing but relief.

"Logan," Scott said. "I've got my own questions. What the hell is going on with Mutant Underground? I heard that Evangeline Whedon had gotten killed . . . then I am hearing several Mutant Underground locations had been destroyed. Then the Morlocks had gotten killed in the D.C sewars."

Logan breathed out a sigh. "That's just half of it. I've been lookin' fer the two of ya since it had been said yer bodies hadn't been found with the slain."

Scott and Jean both nodded. "Good to hear that," Jean said. "But my question is this. What's going on with the Mutant Underground, currently? Is there even still one?"

"Unfortunately, no," John said with a shake of his head. "The whole Underground is gone. Everything we built has gotten burned down. There's only a few of us left."

"Shit," Scott cursed out. "Well, there's only a couple things we heard that are equivalent to good news. The Hound program is disbanded, and the Inner Circle has been taken down. Are those two things true?"

"Yes," Erg responded.

"Good," Jean whispered, her eyes growing distant. From what Logan could tell, something very heavy was on her mind. "But Logan, while you were . . . wherever you were, did you hear anything about -?"

"From what I know, and the bars I've been to, I have overheard a few "Friends of Humanity" bragging about how they've got a "crazy, telepathic redhead" in their custody. I knew who they were talkin' about," Logan told Jean, cutting her off. He knew she was asking if he knew anything about Rachel. "But right now, we gotta focus on getting the two of ya back to where the rest of the Underground are. You two need someplace to lay low before we take our next course of action."

Scott and Jean both nodded in agreement and proceeded to wait until dark so they could sneak out of the abandoned apartment complex and go to what was remaining of the Mutant Underground.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Be sure to REVIEW! Also be sure to check out my story I am doing with MarvelMaster 616, Peace in Our Time! -**

 **DC-MarvelGirl 1997**


	4. Chapter 3

Choking noises sounded throughout the cell as Rachel felt she was being strangled.

The guard who had been sitting there watching her squirm on the floor had gotten board of just sitting in the corner, and decided to have his fun. He'd gotten on top of Rachel's broken body and had begun choking her, his hands tightly around her throat. He would choke her until her face turned blue, release her to allow a breath to enter her lungs, and go back to strangling her again. He was sitting on her chest, his fingers firmly around her throat as Rachel felt the sensation of not being able to breathe.

Little lights popped in her head as Rachel struggled to hold onto consciousness. Finally, the guard released her neck. She coughed and choked, rolling over onto her side as she struggled to breathe. Tears streamed down her face as she felt the guard running his fingers down her breasts underneath the filthy gown. She shuddered as he leaned in and forced a kiss on her lips and got his tongue into her mouth. Rachel did the first thing she could think of and bit down on his tongue. She could taste the blood and felt an odd sense of satisfaction. However, it faded as quickly as it came as the guard grabbed clumps of her hair.

' _That was stupid of me,'_ she thought as the guard undid the chains on her collar. He forced her up onto her feet by holding her hair in his fist.

"We talked about you trying shit like that," he spat. "Time to go to "the room". Crawl like the little bitch you are!"

Rachel let out a sob as the guard dropped her. She was in delirious pain as she tried to crawl toward the door. The guard stalked across the room and grabbed a dog leash, hooking it to the collar and proceeded to drag her out of her cell. He dragged her through the halls towards another room in the building. Rachel dreaded needing to go in there.

The door to "the room" opened to reveal other devices designed for torture. She got thrown into a chair that was there, her arms forced to stay behind her back as the guards proceeded to tie her up with rope. Before she knew it, the electrical rod was thrust into her stomach, causing her to scream loudly.

The electrical shocks jerked her whole body around as she screamed in agony. Suddenly, she noticed a needle coming close to her. She bucked like a leopard to protest.

"N-No! No, p-please!" she cried out. But it was no use as the needle got injected into the crook of her arm. She screamed loudly as she felt the effects of whatever they were forcefully giving her. From what she could tell, over the past year, once a day, the guards had injected her with several different drugs, but she could not begin to guess what they were for. Another needle was soon prepared.

"N-No more drugs . . . _please_ , no more drugs," she whimpered, but it was too late as she felt the effects. Before she knew it, the electric shocks started again as she writhed and squirmed in the chair.

After what felt like over two hours, Rachel was untied from the chair as the guards grabbed her, dragging her back to her cell. But she kicked and screamed. She tried to fight back. But the harder she fought, the worse she was beaten. She felt one guard kicking her in the mouth, causing her mouth to bleed. She spat the blood out as she was shoved back into her cell where she was soon enough being beaten again.

Rachel screamed loudly as duct tape was slammed over her mouth. One of the guards stepped on her nose, hard, which resulted in blood splattering all over her face. Her sobs were muffled behind the tape covering her mouth as she felt them pin her down and burn her with cigarettes, adding to the burns that were already down her right arm. The tears saturated her face as the gown was ripped off her completely, along with her underwear. The guards all took turns fondling her as she closed her eyes tightly, trying to block it all out.

As she felt them continuously touching her, her face burned with shame as she felt one of them climbing on top of her to rape her again. When he finished, the tape was ripped from her lips.

"P-Please . . . s-stop," she begged. "Please . . . please, I _beg_ of you! I-I'm a person . . . I'm a person . . ."

One of the guards spat in her face as she continued to beg. She knew it would get her nowhere. She knew it would be useless, but it was the only thing that she could possibly do. Another guard grabbed her by the neck and began choking her.

"Begging will get you nowhere, whore," he whispered, tightening his hold on her neck. After he released her, Rachel choked violently, coughing as she struggled to sit up. The guards slapped another piece of tape over her mouth and dragged her over to the wall. One of them sat on her legs as another grabbed a whip and began to whip her across her back. Rachel let out a muffled scream as she felt the whip slicing into her back, adding to the bloody, infected wounds that were already there.

As Rachel was continuously whipped, her thoughts of her mother and father enveloped her. The Friends of Humanity had told her that her mother and father were dead . . . that nobody was coming to help her. Each day, she kept losing hope of ever getting out alive.

' _They're gonna kill me,'_ she thought as she grew silent. Keeping her eyes closed, she slowly began retreating into herself, hoping to close herself off from what was happening to her.

* * *

At the apartment complex the Mutant Underground was occupying, Scott, Logan and Jean found they were staying in Esme's apartment. In a lot of ways, they were relieved that there were a few Mutant Underground members left. Though they were surprised individuals like Erg were there, considering he had been leader of the Morlocks. They were also surprised Esme Frost was there, too, especially since they knew of their biological mother's history. But they were glad to see that at least it was still being held together, somewhat.

Jean kept her eyes closed as she leaned into her husband. Once they had gotten there, Caitlin had hounded the both of them insisting on giving them physicals. Jean had told Caitlin that it was fine; she was a doctor and could take care of herself just fine, and that she was perfectly capable of taking care of her husband. Truthfully, Jean and Scott just wanted time to process everything that was happening. Their daughter was still missing, and what made it worse was Jean felt as though she was feeling it in the back of her mind.

"Jean," Scott whispered. "Let's just be glad that at this point, we're in a safe space. At least now, we can focus on what we have to do here."

Jean nodded as she heard knocking at the bedroom door. It opened to reveal Lauren; her hair tied back in a low ponytail. She took in the sight of Jean and Scott both looking worn out and exhausted. For her, it was a shock to see Cyclops and Phoenix. Of course, she and Andy had grown up seeing them on the news. But she had never thought she'd see them in person right in front of her.

Lauren had two plates of food in her hands that she placed in front of them. But Jean couldn't bring herself to want to eat anything given the circumstances they were under.

Jean shook her head. "No, thank you," she whispered.

"Jean, you need to eat," Scott whispered in an insisting tone.

"Trust me; my mom is insisting on it," Lauren whispered, taking a seat in a chair near the bed.

Jean breathed out a sigh. "I know . . . I just find it hard to eat knowing my daughter is out there, somewhere and suffering. Don't ask me how I know. I just know."

"I think that I do," Lauren whispered, sympathetic.

Jean could sense from reading Lauren's thoughts that she was sincere. Jean could see images of Lauren and her brother, Andy . . . how their connection to the Fenris Force made them telepathically connected in ways no one understood. It was a family bond, no doubt. Jean nodded as she felt her eyes misting over.

"Yeah, yeah, I can sense that," Jean whispered. "It's just . . . it's been God only knows how many years, and I hear rumors that my kid is in the Hound program. Then I hear the Hound program is disbanded. But God only knows where she is now. And now I have to see things in my sleep . . ." Swallowing hard, Jean struggled to hold her emotions back. She was a doctor. She needed to be in control and keep herself in check. She was scared if she allowed herself to break down, it would make her look weak in front of her husband. She was a rock . . . stability. She always had been a source of stability to everyone.

"I know what the Hound program did to people," Lauren whispered. "Andy and I experienced it first-hand. They killed someone in front of us . . . she'd been a friend; someone's lover. They made us use our powers in there, together, hands joined. They knew what was going to happen. They know if we join hands; if we combine our powers, we can bring a whole building down."

Jean could feel her throat tightening. "I just . . . to think our daughter is . . ." Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as Scott hugged her tighter. "It makes me feel as though I failed as a mom. When she was born, I promised to do right by my child . . . now I'm thinking I shouldn't have gone to that 7/15 protest and I should have stayed home with her."

"And risk yourself getting killed?" Lauren asked.

"At least then, maybe, she could've been safe with us," Jean growled out, tears making their way into her eyes as they glowed a shade of orange.

"Easy, Jean," Scott whispered. "We'll get the answers we need to know."

"Scott, don't," Jean said, a hint of anger in her tone as she faced her husband.

"Come on Jean, let me reassure you for once," Scott said. "Okay? I get it; I'm living this nightmare, too. I've been searching for Rachel, too. You're a great mother."

"I don't feel like much of a great mother," Jean whispered, her tears making their way down as her anger melted away from her voice.

Lauren could hear the guilt in Jean's tone. She could sense that this woman felt as though she had failed at being a mother to her child. Lauren could also sense that there was a bit of an insecurity there, too. She could only wonder what could cause something like that.

"If you don't mind me asking," Lauren said. "Why are you doubting your abilities of being a mom?"

"Because when I was ten, I killed my whole family," Jean whispered, tears dripping down. "I-I telekinetically caused my parents' car to crash. I killed them. And then Professor Xavier, he took me in . . . when he met me, I had been a mental patient being brought to him because nobody wanted anything to do with me. He gave me a family. He gave me my life back. And then . . . then 7/15 happened, and I-I find out that he was found with the dead at the Xavier Institute. And then I hear my daughter was the only survivor, because her telekinesis kicked in at such a young age. She's seventeen now. So, I cannot even begin to imagine how many _fucking years_ she had to spend locked up like an animal, killing and torturing people, drugged out of her mind. And now Logan, he's hearing that the Friends of Humanity might have her prisoner, and I didn't do a Goddamn thing to stop it!"

Lauren could sense by the shaking in Jean's voice that the woman was close to breaking down. But maybe that was what needed to happen. Lauren could sense that all these years had hardened Jean so much, and she had attempted at cutting herself off from her emotions. But Jean being a telepath, that was nearly impossible, and she was mad that she had to feel everything and sense everything. It seemed so unlike the Jean Grey Lauren had grown up admiring, watching on the news and secretly idolizing.

"And now . . . now . . ." Jean's breathing was growing ragged as the tears continued down her face. "Now . . . I-I have to f-feel stuff in my sleep. I-I haven't h-had any s-sleep in a-a year, because-because I k-keep waking in . . . in the middle of the night seeing images that are p-pure t-torture! And now – now I'm convinced my n-nightmares a-are about m-my daughter." Jean's voice came out sounding like a gagging sound as she gasped for air. Tears streamed down from her eyes as she gasped out, "My-My _baby!_ " With that, Jean completely lost her composure and her face fell into her hands. Sobs burst from her throat as her shoulders shook.

That was the sight Caitlin walked in on as she entered the room. She had overheard most of it. To hear Jean was doubting whether she was a good mother or not was heartbreaking to listen to. It wasn't like Caitlin could blame Jean, though.

"Jean," Caitlin whispered. She knelt in front of the former X-woman as she watched Scott attempt at comforting his wife. She could see tears were streaking down Scott's face silently.

Caitlin reached a hand over to touch Jean's knee gently. "Jean," she whispered. "Listen to me . . . mother to mother. I understand more than you think I do. My husband I had just lost two months ago, because he sacrificed himself to take down the Inner Circle to prevent them from doing worse. When my kids got taken by the Hound Program, it had been devastating for me, and for my late husband. If you were not a good mother, you wouldn't be this emotional. You care. You would not be this upset about your child being missing if you did not care. Don't you dare doubt for a second your abilities of being a mom, ever. Okay? We'll help you get your daughter back; after that, you can figure out whatever course of action you should take next."

Jean breathed out a shaky sight as she took in Caitlin's words. Sniffling, Jean brushed the tears off her face as she whispered, "I just wish that it-it didn't h-have to be like this. I-I wish that S-Scott and I – we could have something m-much s-simpler with our daughter. M-Maybe a-another child . . . a d-dog . . . an ugly minivan no one in their God right mind would think of d-driving; a house in the country. I-I'd prefer that o-over this life. This-This is h-hell."

"Believe me; I know how you feel," Caitlin whispered. "I would give anything to have my husband back . . . to get to live a life of peace where we didn't have to worry about constantly looking over our shoulders every day. But we need to make the most of it, at this point. Whatever is left of the Mutant Underground, we need to continue it. We can't just give it all up because we lost so many people to the Purifiers."

Jean breathed out a sigh as she snuggled further into her husband's arms. Scott ran his fingers through her hair. "It's going to take me a while to believe that we can move past any of this," Scott murmured. "I'm sick of living like this, too. Our life all this time since that damn incident has been running from city to city, trying to find answers as to where our child is . . . trying to find any other survivors. It's exhausting."

"We can see you're sick and tired of it," Lauren whispered. She took notice that Scott and Jean both looked very tired. Jean had dark circles underneath her eyes, and her skin looked considerably pale. Scott also seemed to have aged quite a bit due to his own exhaustion. The two had been through so much; now that they finally had a moment to rest their minds, the two were dwelling over what they could have done. Lauren could see their minds were on overload, and that they both needed rest, desperately. She couldn't begin to imagine the last time Scott or Jean had gotten a decent night's sleep.

"You two should at least try and sleep," Caitlin advised. "If you won't eat anything at least sleep. Just worry about putting yourselves first right now; let Logan, John and Marcos handle looking for Rachel. Just trust us right now. Let us take care of it. First, I would advise you both to shower and change your clothes. Don't be conspicuous right now. After that, worry about sleeping. Like I said, let us handle the rest. If anyone deserves decent rest, it's the two of you."

Scott and Jean both nodded as Caitlin and Lauren left the room. Jean stretched out her aching limbs as she looked to the clothes Caitlin had given her and Scott earlier. They were shirts and sweatpants that belonged to Marcos and Caitlin, who were Scott and Jean's sizes.

"You want to go first?" Jean asked her husband.

Scott nodded. He gathered up the t-shirt and jeans and proceeded to head to the bathroom attached to Esme's extra bedroom. The water in the shower started and Scott proceeded to step in, allowing the warm water to soak into his aching limbs. The steam from the shower felt soothing in a sense as he massaged shampoo into his scalp. Grabbing the bar soap, he washed his body off. As he allowed the warm water to cleanse his body free of filth, his thoughts drifted to his daughter. He could only hope and pray that they would find her, eventually. But every day, it seemed as though he and Jean were losing more hope of ever finding their child again.

' _Rachel . . . wherever you are, hold on for us, please,'_ he thought as his eyes closed. Before he knew it, he was out of the shower before the hot water ran out and he was slipping Marcos' clothes onto his body. As he came out of the bathroom, he saw Jean preparing to get in.

"I should have joined you," she whispered.

"I made sure not to use all the hot water." Scott grinned sheepishly. "You can take your turn now." He leaned a kiss to Jean's forehead, allowing her to go into the bathroom. The first thing Jean did was reach for the toothbrush and toothpaste, brushing her teeth to get the aftertaste of morning breath out of her mouth. Afterwards, she stepped into the shower to wash and shave. After she finished, she put on the clothes Caitlin had loaned her. She then proceeded to join her husband in bed as he pulled the sheets back. Slipping onto the bed, Jean felt the comfort of the soft mattress on her spine, and she stretched out willingly. She'd forgotten how soft and agreeable it was to sleep in an actual bed rather than on a worn-out mattress on a dusty floor.

"Try to rest, Jean," Scott murmured around a deep yawn as he wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders to pull her to his chest. "I love you." He kissed the top of her head.

"I love you, too," Jean whispered. Her eyes closed on their own accord, and she allowed sleep to overtake her as she heard the steady rise and fall of her husband's chest as he breathed deeply.

* * *

 **Be sure to REVIEW!**

 **Also, be sure to check out my story collaboration with MarvelMaster 616, Peace in Our Time! Excelsior! -**

 **DC-MarvelGirl 1997**


	5. Chapter 4

' _I can only hope to Christ we get answers,'_ thought Logan as he sat in a bar with Esme Frost and John Proudstar. He'd chosen this bar on purpose, because he knew this was a bar that the Friends of Humanity frequented.

' _I'm with you there, Logan,'_ Esme projected to him softly as she sipped at her beer. It was for crap, but they were all determined to keep a low profile. Esme had a baseball cap on her head, keeping it low over her eyes. Logan and John were both wearing dark sunglasses as they had their own share of beers.

"Could we be just wasting our time here?" asked John softly.

"Trust me, Proudstar. I've been to quite a few bars. I know that they go here just to become shit-faced. The chances of them slipping up and sayin' something is high," Logan whispered as he sipped his beer. "This stuff tastes like shit."

"What are you going to do?" Esme quipped quietly.

Suddenly, that was when a bell chimed at the door, and they could hear more Friends of Humanity members entering the bar. Esme could pick up on their thoughts immediately.

' _Too bad the little bitch wasn't as tight. Guess it's to be expected after she's been fucked a few times. Still enjoyed it, though.'_

Esme felt her stomach flipping with sickness as she heard those thoughts. Logan's superior hearing could hear a few of the FOH members whispering among themselves.

"The redhead . . . that's right, I fucked her good. Apparently, she's not responding too much. Guess she's given up."

"I have yet to have my turn with her, Tom. So, don't hog the bitch up."

"Don't worry, Jimmy; I won't. You'll have plenty of opportunity to have her."

Logan knew who they were talking about as soon as the guard named Tom had said "the redhead". He could feel his blood boiling with rage as his glare darkened behind his sunglasses. He clenched his jaw hard, whispering to John.

"I know what they're sayin'. I wanna kill 'em all right now!" he hissed, casting John a glance.

"They won't be judged dead, Logan," John whispered. "We need one of them alive to find out where Rachel is. Clarice is right outside so we can teleport at least one of them out of here and bring them back to the apartment."

Logan breathed out a quiet snarl as he clenched his hands into fists. Esme could feel her blood boiling as well. Just hearing the Friends of Humanity brazenly talking about raping a teenage girl, like they were proud of it, left her in disgust.

"I just wish the mutie bitch would shut the fuck up and quit begging. I nearly choked her to death the other day."

"We still need her alive. We haven't been ordered to kill her yet. We'll get those commands from the chief."

John could feel his insides shaking as he heard that. Hearing the Friends of Humanity were looking to kill Rachel made him want to wring their necks. But he knew he needed to keep his temper in check. He knew if he killed one of those members, then they wouldn't be able to find out where Rachel was being held hostage. He shook his head, taking a deep breath as he took another sip of his beer.

* * *

Hours began passing the more Esme, John and Logan sat there at the bar. The Friends of Humanity who had been bragging about what they had done to Rachel were at this point so piss-faced drunk, they were swaying on their feet. The bar was close to closing for the night. Turning to each other, John, Logan and Esme watched as the guard, Jimmy, got separated from his friend.

"He just made a mistake there," growled Logan as he slammed the money down on the bar top to pay for their drinks. Exiting the bar, the three mutants followed the FOH guard out. John grabbed the man from behind and they shoved him along the corner, knocking him out before nodding at Clarice to teleport them home. Once they were in the apartment Logan was staying in with John, Clarice, Lorna and Marcos, Logan roughly grabbed the FOH member and dragged him to the bathroom to get him sobered up. Upon hearing their entry, Scott, Jean and Marcos came into the room with Lorna.

"What's going on?" Scott demanded.

"We're getting' answers," Logan growled as the bathtub filled up with freezing water. He forcefully shoved the FOH member's head underneath the water, and before he knew it, the man was cognizant enough to know what was happened.

"What the fuck?" the man asked as Logan shoved him along. Logan nodded at Lorna as he shoved the Friends of Humanity member into a chair. Lorna sensed what Logan was requesting her to do and she proceeded to use her magnetism to tie the man down to the chair with metal restraints. That was when the Friends of Humanity member took notice to where he was.

"Let me go you fucking freaks!" he yelled out.

Logan popped out three of his claws and pointed them directly under the man's neck, a dark glare on his features. "Listen, bub! We overhead what you were sayin'. The only thing that's stoppin' me from breakin' yer fuckin' neck is the very person you've got hostage right now! So, tell us what the hell you know, and we might let you live."

"I don't know what you're talking about," the Friends of Humanity member snapped in disgust.

"He's lying," Esme said, whose eyes were glowing blue. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"You've got two telepaths here in front of you. You're better off telling the truth," Marcos said heatedly.

John crossed his arms over his chest. "If you're going to talk about holding a teenage girl hostage, you might as well speak quieter about it. Not too much could help your case there, though. Logan and I here, we heard everything you said. We know what you did."

Esme's eyes glowed bright blue again as she probed the man's mind. She walked over and gripped his head in her hands as Caitlin, Lauren, Erg and Andy came into the room.

"What the hell is going on?" Lauren asked.

"We're getting answers. Let's just say, we overheard this son of a bitch bragging about fucking "the redhead"," Logan snarled.

As soon as Scott heard those words, rage seemed to simmer off him. Jean's eyes glowed hot orange as they focused on the Friends of Humanity member they had in the room. Her hair seemed to be made of flames as she practically darted over to the man tied down to the chair, and began probing around his mind as well, a little more aggressively than Esme was.

Scott had his hands clenched his fists at his side as he shook with rage. He looked as though he wanted to rip his glasses on his face and scream at the sky. Meanwhile, Jean was focusing her rage on the man restrained in the chair. She was desperate for answers as she angrily scanned the man's mind. Everything that she was picking up, she could sense that what that man had been bragging about was really true. He had raped her daughter. He had touched her daughter in the most vile, disgusting way possible. Tears streamed down her face as she clenched her jaw shut to keep herself from screaming. With a telekinetic pulse, she broke the man's arm. The man let out a loud shout of pain. Just as Jean was about to telekinetically snap his neck, Caitlin and Scott both went over to her to get her out of the room.

Scott grabbed his wife by the shoulders and steered her out of the room toward the hallway. He could see Jean's anger was melting to devastation as her sobs burst from her lips.

"Jean," he whispered to her softly.

"I-It's t-true!" she choked out, shaking her head. "H-He raped her! I-I sh-should h-have stopped it!"

"How? Jean, we had no idea where Rachel was being held hostage this whole time. There's nothing you could have done," Scott whispered, taking her face into the palms of his hands.

Jean shook her head as she collapsed forward into her husband's arms as her sobs overwhelmed her. Her knees grew weak as she struggled to remain conscious. Before she knew it, she passed out in her husband's waiting arms as he held her. Scott took deep breaths to control his own anger as he got Jean back to their apartment, laying her on the couch before throwing a blanket over her legs. Scott felt tears streaming down his own face as he clenched his hair in his fists as he sat on the floor. Silent sobs ripped through him as he shook with misery and rage.

Scott did not know how long he sat there in his silent state of tears, but somehow, he found himself awakening in his bed, the blanket draped over him. He could only assume Logan or John had moved him after he'd passed out from his grief and rage. Getting out of bed, he proceeded to go to the fridge and found a six-pack of beer. Opening a bottle, he proceeded to go outside in the fresh air and took a sip, relishing in the taste of the alcohol as it numbed his mind.

As he stood out there, his thoughts drifted to his daughter who was still suffering at the hands of the Friends of Humanity. He could feel the air hitting his face as he closed his eyes. That was when he could sense he wasn't by himself.

"Did you get answers?" he asked, not caring who was listening.

"Yeah, we did," Caitlin told him as she and Marcos moved to stand on either side of him. Caitlin was holding her own bottle of beer, as well as Marcos.

"Where are they holding her?" Scott asked.

"An abandoned military facility down in Austin, Texas. According to that guard, they have plans to kill her. Though they haven't done anything yet. She's still alive, as far as we know," Marcos said.

Scott breathed out a sigh, shaking his head. "I find it very hard to be comforted by that," he muttered as he sipped his beer again.

Caitlin placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know. But at this point, all you can do is everything you have to do in order to save her."

* * *

Throughout the cell she was being kept in, all Rachel could hear as she laid facedown on the floor was the sounds of a guard's grunts as he raped her, pounding into her like a mad animal and covered in sweat. Her sobs burst from her throat behind the tape covering her mouth.

After what felt like hours, the guard got off her beaten, bloody, naked body. He gave her one last kick before leaving the room. This would be the first time the guards left her in the room, alone.

Despite the weakness and soreness of her body, Rachel desperately attempted to get herself onto her elbows, to try and crawl away. Her hands were now tied up in front of her. Slowly, she weakly moved her body towards the door. She desperately wanted to escape this living hell she'd been stuck in for a year. She had gone from being a hound, to being a slave to the Friends of Humanity.

Finally, after five minutes, which felt like hours, Rachel weakly collapsed to the ground as her sobs overwhelmed her. There was no use in trying to escape this place. She was too weak, injured and physically ill to move.

One of the guards came back into her cell, this time with a bowl of gruel. He roughly ripped the tape off her mouth and placed the bowl in front of her face, which would force her to lap up the slimy mush like a dog. Weakly, Rachel proceeded to eat the slimy, cold slop placed in front of her. She was so desperate for anything in her stomach, which was cold and empty. She knew that it was useless though, because she would just throw it back up later.

The guard watched as Rachel desperately attempted to swallow the gruel down. Sobs were ripping through her body as she felt the pain throughout her entire body. Her eyes stung with tears as she swallowed down more gruel. After she finished the bowl of food, the guard shoved some long, black material into her mouth and tied it tightly around her head to gag her again. The gruel she'd been forced to consume was still dripping down her chin as the guard proceeded to beat her and beat her, kicking her repetitively.

Rachel couldn't help it as she screamed and cried. When the guard finished beating her, he bent down to her level to spit in her face.

"That'll get you nowhere, you little whore," he whispered, grabbing her cheeks with one hand. "Everyone you've ever known is _dead._ Your mutie freaks of parents are dead. Nobody's coming for you. No one cares about you. Whoever cared about you, they abandoned you. They've given up on you. You're a worthless piece of shit, and everybody here knows it!"

Rachel continued to sob as she heard the cruel words. She didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to.

' _Mom . . . Daddy please! Please . . . h-help. Help me. Somebody, help me!'_ she thought as the guard continued to talk harshly to her. He kept telling her that her parents were dead . . . that no one cared about her . . . that all she was good for was sex, and only sex, because that was the only thing she would ever amount to. She could feel her face burning with shame as the guard called her names in between punching her and beating her.

"Whore."

Punch.

"Bitch."

Punch.

"Slut."

Punch.

"Freak."

Punch.

"Mutie."

Punch.

With each beating, the words stung as Rachel laid there, sobbing in pain. However, she continued to think about her parents. She continued to allow those thoughts to consume her mind as she thought to herself, _'Someone, please help me! Mom Daddy, somebody, anybody! HELP!'_

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Please, REVIEW!**

 **Also, be sure to check out my story collaboration with MarvelMaster 616, Peace in Our Time! Excelsior!-**

 **DC-MarvelGirl 1997**


	6. Chapter 5

The remaining members of the Mutant Underground wasted no time in preparing to head to Austin, Texas. The group authorized to go were Jean, Scott, Logan, John, Marcos, Lorna, Lauren, and Clarice, while Caitlin, Andy, Erg, and Esme were to stay behind. Caitlin knew she had to prepare the clinic that she worked at for when Rachel was brought in.

Loading up their van with whatever medical supplies would have to suffice for the drive, Jean Grey was in a state of worry. Sure, they had the address for the facility the FOH were occupying, but she didn't know what she was going to be walking into. But she couldn't only picture mentally in her mind the suffering her child had been put through all these years. Closing her eyes, Jean could feel her body trembling as she climbed into the back of the van to sit beside her husband. John and Logan were in the driver's and passenger's sides, while Marcos, Lauren, Lorna and Clarice were taking up another van.

' _I don't even know if I want to see what I know I am going to see,'_ Jean thought as she stayed cuddled under Scott's arm, against his chest. She could hear the beating of his heart as he tightened his hold around her shoulders.

' _I know, Jean. But we're finding her. Based on what the FOH member had revealed – or rather – what you went searching for telepathically, it isn't going to be anything pretty,'_ Scott said. _'Nevertheless, take comfort in the fact that once we get her back, she'll be back home where she belongs. After we save her, we can worry about what we're going to do from there.'_

' _I already know a normal life isn't an option. We could never have a normal life, ever, Scott,'_ Jean thought to him, curling herself further into his arms.

' _As horrible as it is, Jean, we cannot lose hope right now. We're getting her back. We're going to get our daughter back,'_ Scott told her soothingly.

Jean nodded, feeling her eyes starting to sting. She tried to keep her tears where they belonged. Her fingers clawed at Scott's shirt as she breathed in his scent. However, their actions caught the attention of Logan, who turned his head in their direction as John got them on the road.

For Logan, the past day or so had consisted of only two victories – finding Jean and Scott, and finding what was remaining of the Mutant Underground. But he could sense that it was only going to be an uphill battle as they went on the search for Scott and Jean's daughter.

Logan could admit, that when he had first met Scott and Jean all those years ago, before the Liberty Island incident with Rogue, that in the beginning, he couldn't stand Scott's guts. The boy scout of the X-men had been a stark contrast to who Logan was: he was upstanding, uptight, polite, militant and focused. Scott had been the leader the X-men had looked up to. He was considered the favorite teacher to the students of the Xavier Institute, because he allowed his students to be independent. He didn't coddle them, and he didn't force them to talk about things that they hated talking about. For an uptight boy scout, Scott shockingly had a side to him that was filled with compassion and care. He displayed that with his students in all his classes. And then he and Jean got married a year later. And a year after that, they had Rachel.

Logan could remember the day Rachel was born. He remembered walking down to the medical bay after Jean had given birth, and when he'd arrived, he'd saw Scott standing at her side loyally, lovingly, the two crying tears of joy at the sight of the little bundle of flesh resting in Jean's arms. After Scott had become a father, it was almost as though he'd changed from an uptight soldier, to a soft, caring, loving father whose daughter had him wrapped around her finger. He would help out constantly with Rachel, changing her diapers and feeding her and playing with her.

It had been clear to Logan that Scott adored his daughter. And Jean was just as loving of a mother to Rachel as Scott was a father. Jean was so nurturing and tender, a natural mother. She had been like a mother to all the students of the institute, making sure that everyone was taken care of before she was. She was selfless and wore her heart on her sleeve. Logan could admit that those were some of the reasons why he'd grown attracted to her, much to Scott chagrin.

However, the years of watching Scott and Jean nurture and care for their daughter made Logan find a new-found respect for Scott. It made Logan realize just how much Scott loved his child and would do whatever it took to do right by her. The word Logan would use to describe Scott as a father was generous. Scott spoiled Rachel beyond rotten for her birthday and Christmas.

Now, looking back at the two founding X-men members, Logan suddenly felt the urge to speak with them both. He knew that Jean, according to Lauren, was doubting her abilities of being a mom. He couldn't help but wonder what Scott was thinking. Yes, Logan did not like Scott; to a certain degree, he still didn't. But that did not mean he didn't respect him.

Climbing toward the back of the van, out of the passenger's seat, Logan said, "How're ya two holding up?"

Scott let out an exasperated sigh. "What do you think?" he asked, the bitterness evident in his voice as his eyes stung with unshed tears.

"Honestly, Logan?" Jean asked. "I do not even know if I _want_ to know what I know I am going to walk into. And if we _do_ find her, who is to say she'll be alive? And who is to say that she'll be the same as we remember her to be? I just – I feel like I failed. Because when Xavier took me all those years ago, and when I'd decided to join the X-men, I'd thought at the time that I would be making the world better. Now, it just feels as though it's one failure compounded on top of another."

"Do ya want me to be honest?" Logan asked. "I think the both of ya are being too hard on yerselves."

"Easy for you to say," Scott said distantly. "You're not a father, Logan. How can you sit there telling us you know how we feel?"

"Yer right; I don't," Logan said. "But I'd lost Rogue during 7/15, Slim. She was the closest thing that I'd had to call family. She called me a father."

Scott and Jean instantly felt a little bit of guilt. They knew that the loss of Rogue would be something Logan had probably taken hard. They remembered seeing the victims the day of the attacks. They had gone to the protest that day with Ororo, Rogue, Beast, Bobby, Kitty and Logan. They had suspected deep down that something was going to go wrong that day, so they had gone in order to make sure no one got hurt. Unfortunately, that was what led to them all being separated. But that was when it all went wrong. How it went wrong, no one knew who started it. They were not even sure if the Brotherhood had done it. But when Scott and Jean saw the dead bodies, they knew they had to run. The most disturbing to them were Ororo and Beast's bodies . . . the charred skin, all that blood . . .

Just thinking about it made Jean feel sick. She swallowed her nausea back. "Yeah, Logan, we know that you lost Rogue that day. We – We saw her body, too. But after we found Ororo's . . . and Hank's, we knew we had no choice. We had to run like hell and get out of there. It was a cowardly decision."

"No, it wasn't. If ya didn't hide, you'd be dead with the rest of them," Logan said sternly.

"Maybe instead of hiding, we should have been out there searching for Rachel," spat Scott angrily.

"As far as I can tell, you had been," Logan said. "Quit placing blame on yerself, One-Eye. Think of yer kid. Would she want you two wallowing in self-pity, playing with shoulda, woulda, coulda? What would she say to ya? She wouldn't want ya two hiding behind her."

"Logan, shut up," Scott said, anger evident in his voice, balling his hands into fists.

"No, Slim. Quit sitting there, in yer own self-righteousness, feeling sorry fer yerself. I won't let ya. I may not like ya, but I care too much about you both to allow you both to do this to yerselves. I won't let ya, because this is about yer daughter. I get it, ya feel ya failed. But ya better swallow that pride of yers, man up, and quit feeling sorry fer yerself," Logan said sternly.

"Logan." Scott's voice was starting to rise in anger. He couldn't take that he knew Logan was right.

"I couldn't give two shits. I'm not gonna tell ya what ya want to hear. What ya need to hear is the truth. And right now, you can't take it. It's the time the both of ya eat it, swallow yer pride, and not allow this to consume you," Logan said.

"Don't you dare lecture us, Logan," Jean said angrily, her eyes melting with tears.

"Jeannie, enough," Logan said. "Okay? I'm done watching the two of ya sitting around feeling sorry fer yerselves. I know ya two are feeling helpless because of what's happening to yer daughter. But would she want ya guys blaming yerselves? No, she wouldn't."

Scott's eyes filled themselves with tears and rolled down his face. His face crumpled underneath the weight. For years, he'd blamed himself for his daughter being gone. He'd felt for years that he hadn't done enough to find his child. He'd felt nothing but guilt for not protecting her. But Logan was right. He had been allowing himself to wallow in guilt and self-righteousness. More than anything, he felt disgusted with himself as he burrowed his face into his hands and began to silently sob. His body wracked hard, shaking as he sniffled. Jean let out a cry as her tears began saturating her face.

Scott and Jean felt Logan laying a hand on each of their shoulders as they cried silently.

"We're gonna get yer kid back," Logan told them. "After that, we'll figure out where to go from there."

Jean was finally able to speak through her tears. "H-Hopefully after this is done, we'll be able to just – just go anywhere . . . anywhere else but here. You know, Raven; she'd wanted to run away with-with Hank," she whispered.

Scott nodded, wrapping his arm securely around Jean as he wiped the tears off his face.

"Quit beating yerselves up over this," Logan said sternly. "Okay?"

Scott and Jean both nodded. Logan had told them the truth. And he was right.

"You're right," Scott said. "You're right. God, I hate it when you're right."

"Because it's the truth," Jean said glumly. "We hadn't had anyone tell us the truth in years."

With that, Logan proceeded to leave Scott and Jean to digest what he had said to them. Scott and Jean knew Logan was right, no matter how much they hated it.

 _'He's right,'_ Scott told Jean through their bond.

 _'Yeah,'_ Jean said. 'I just hope that – I just hope that when we find Rachel that she – that she remembers us, and that she knows we didn't abandon her.'

 _'Jean, if your nightmares you've been having at night have any indication, then Rachel probably knows we haven't given up on her.'_

Jean closed her eyes and proceeded to rest against Scott. She took comfort in his familiar scent as she curled closer to him.

 _'I love you,'_ Scott told her.

 _'I love you, too,'_ Jean replied, feeling Scott kissing her on the top of her head lovingly.

* * *

The spilling water pouring over her head sent a new wave of shivers down Rachel's prone body.

Her arms and upper body were aching her terribly as she hung there, suspended from the butcher's hook as tears rolled down her face. The guards had stuffed a gag into her mouth to prevent her from screaming. But it didn't stop her from making as much noise as she could. She kept moaning and whimpering.

"Mmmmph," she moaned, wanting nothing more than for it to stop.

The FOH members just laughed as they stuck the charged electrical rod into her stomach, causing a new wave of muffled screaming to escape the teenager.

"MMMMMPH!"

One of the FOH members grabbed her face into his hand, squeezing it over her cheeks, hard enough to bruise her.

"Don't even bother," he said to her. "It's not like anyone can hear you. You're so annoying. Do you ever shut up?"

Rachel shook her head. At this point, the FOH hadn't even bothered to redress her with the torn gown and her filthy underwear. They had resulted to just leaving her completely naked, the only thing dressing her being a diaper to further degrade her. And when she'd saw what they had planned to do, she'd fought like hell against the guards, which resulted in them tying her to the butcher's hook to water board her and shock her with electricity. Her face was burning with humiliation as she hung there, sobbing.

" _You cry like a baby? We'll treat you like one,"_ one of them had told her as he'd sat on her and forced the diaper on her weak body.

One of the guards pulled out a knife, and Rachel flinched hard, shaking all over as the guard forcefully turned her around. He held her by the waist hard, his fingers bruising her and he began to carve something into her lower back.

The guard used the knife to carve the word "whore" into Rachel's back. When he finished, the ropes binding her to the hook slashed, but instantaneously, they were replaced with Velcro straps and forced behind her back. A Velcro strap wrapped around her, underneath her breasts, to pin her arms down, as well. The same bindings went around her knees and ankles, leaving her struggling and flopping around on the ground like a fish. The guard sat on her legs and lowered down the ridiculous diaper, and began to spank her, hard.

Rachel's neck was held down by another guard as she sobbed, her whole chest hurting as she was spanked over and over. Another piece of cloth was shoved into her mouth and tied around her head in addition to the one that was already in her mouth. They were determined to keep her from speaking at all, and if that meant putting two gags into her mouth, they were willing to. By the time the guard finished spanking her and pulled the diaper back up roughly, her butt cheeks felt blistered and bruised. However, the guard continued sitting on her.

"It's been like this for a year; the brat's not giving up," one of the guards commented as he knelt down to Rachel's level just to spit on her.

"Mmmmmph . . . Mmmmmph," Rachel continued to moan, struggling.

"I'm honestly getting bored of this whore," commented another, going over to break Rachel's fingers.

"Mmmmmph!"

"Shut up, brat!" shouted the guard sitting on her.

"I say we get rid of her like the sack of shit she is," another guard said as the chief came into the room.

"I'd have to agree. She's no longer of use to us. It's time we dispose of her," he said. "Get the car prepared. It doesn't matter where we drive to, as long as we're no longer carrying her around."

"Sir, yes, sir," the guards all said together, getting up to leave Rachel alone with their chief.

As they all exited, the chief went over to Rachel and grabbed her by her throat, bending down to glare at her with a look of loathing and disgust.

"Just wait," he whispered to her. "In just twenty-four hours from now, you'll be _dead._ Nobody's going to care once you're gone. What we're going to do to you . . . that's still to be decided. But I can promise; you'll suffer, slowly. You're nothing more than a little slut and a complete brat."

"Mmmmmmph!" Rachel moaned, tears continuing to pour down her face.

"Buckle up, mutie bitch," the chief spat. "You're going on a "trip", and you're never coming back!"

With that said, the guard reached over and grabbed Rachel around her waist, throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her out of the cell that she had been trapped in for nearly one year. The moment she was out of the cell, the guard carried her to a bathroom that was there. The tub was filled with ice cold water.

"But before we go anywhere, let's see how long you last." With that said, he dumped Rachel into the freezing cold bath water. The minute the water touched her vulnerable skin, her body wracked with shivers. The chief sat on the toilet, watching her shiver and cry. The ridiculous diaper was beginning to wet. Another guard entered the space, with a new diaper for her to get changed into once she was out of the tub. Because of the way she was tied up, she was forced to sit up straight in the freezing water.

As she sat there, freezing cold and shivering all over, Rachel continued to sob. She was completely afraid. The fact that the chief told her she was hours away from being killed, slowly and painfully, terrified her.

 _'I – I guess this is it,'_ she thought. _'They're – They're g-gonna kill m-me . . . they're g-gonna k-kill m-me!'_

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Be sure to REVIEW. Also, I apologize if the scenes of graphic torture are too much for some. I try not to go too graphic or too deep with it, but often times, it just turns out that way. I'm not trying to offend anyone. I'm just trying to tell a story. I can promise, though, that the story will end on a high note.**

 **Also, be sure to check out my story that is in collaboration with MarvelMaster616, Peace in Our Time, as well as my other X-men story, The Evolution Project! Excelsior. Also, happy 4th of July to all. -**

 **DC-MarvelGirl 1997**


	7. Chapter 6

Her body continued to wrack with violent shivers the longer she sat there in the freezing cold bath water.

She was shivering so violently; she was convinced that she was getting hypothermia.

Her whole body seared with aches and pains, and her limbs were tied so tightly, she couldn't move.

Rachel let out a violent sob again behind the gag in her mouth. The diaper she was wearing was soaking wet from the bath water, adding to her humiliation as the chief of the FOH sat there, watching her shiver and squirm around in the tub. Everything was so cold.

It could have been hours she'd been sitting in the tub, wearing that ridiculous diaper with freezing water encasing her weak, sick body. She didn't know how long she'd been forced to sit there. But best she could tell, just by looking at her arms that her skin was turning blue from the cold.

Finally, the chief got up from sitting on the toilet, and walked over to the tub. He drained it free of the icy water and pulled Rachel out of the tub by her hair, dragging her to the tile floor to only add to her discomfort. He untied her ankles and knees and grabbed the new diaper that was there. He didn't even bother with drying off her body as he ripped the wet diaper off and replaced it with the fresh one. He then tied her ankles and knees back up with more Velcro restraints, and proceeded to tie a noose around her neck and attached it to her ankles, hogtying her like cattle. However, she was determined to keep her neck arched. She knew if she didn't, she would die from being strangled by the rope.

"Mmmph . . . mmmph . . . mmmmmmph!" Rachel moaned as her tears streamed down her face. The chief reached into a supplies cabinet and pulled out a roll of duct tape. He pulled out the two pieces of cloth gagging her, but before Rachel could make a sound, he stretched three long pieces of tape over her mouth to gag her. He then reached down and grabbed her by her hair, dragging her out of the bathroom.

The chief dragged her along the floors of the facility, until finally, they reached a back entrance. She was dragged along through the grass, her naked body shivering violently as she felt she was being covered in dirt and filth. She was then lifted, and saw the opened car trunk. She was tossed into the trunk, and the six guards stood over her, laughing callously as they watched her struggle.

"Struggle all you want, whore. It'll do nothing," said one of them.

"Mmmmmph . . . mmmph mmmmph!" Rachel moaned again.

The guards turned to the chief. "Where do you want us taking her?"

"As far away as possible," the chief ordered. "And make sure whatever you do, she suffers. Make it slow; as painful as possible."

"Sir, yes, sir," the guards all said. The trunk was slammed shut and locked, and before she knew it, Rachel could hear the car starting and driving away. Nevertheless, she refused to allow the noose to strangle her.

' _Somebody, p-please, h-help me,'_ she thought as she continued to sob and moan. She couldn't kick; she knew that it would cause the noose around her neck to tighten. Her entire body continued to shiver violently as she silently pled for someone to find her and rescue her.

' _Mom . . . D-Daddy, please!'_ she allowed that thought to consume her mind, hoping for a miracle that her mother and father were still alive . . . that they were going to save her . . .

* * *

' _Mom . . . D-Daddy, please!'_

That single thought caused Jean Grey's eyes to snap open in shock. She didn't know how many hours she and her husband had been asleep during the ride toward Texas, but moving to look and see where they were, she could see that they were exiting Georgia. She could tell that John wasn't going to stop driving until they reached the location where Rachel was being held hostage.

All Jean could remember was that her nightmare had been vivid. All she could hear as the thoughts of someone crying out . . . a girl . . . she could see images of a scrawny, red-headed teenage girl laying in a call, tied up and gagged, being tortured in ways that were unspeakable. She could see numerous rapes being performed. It brought her a cold feeling that formed in her stomach.

It was Rachel. She just knew it. Her nightmares over the past year had been connected to her daughter the whole time. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew. She felt it. She allowed a thought to consume her mind.

' _Hold on, baby. Mommy and Daddy are coming, sweetie. We're coming, I promise.'_

* * *

' _Hold on, baby. Mommy and Daddy are coming, sweetie. We're coming, I promise.'_

Rachel didn't know if she was just hearing things in her head. She didn't know if it was real or not. Nevertheless, her eyes melted with more tears as she continued to sob. She could have sworn she'd heard her mother speaking to her.

It could have all been an illusion. Maybe she was hoping for too much. But as Rachel Summers continued to lay there, trembling, only one thought could run through her young mind.

' _Mom,'_ she thought as she continued to struggling against her bindings. She wanted to at least get her hands free, but the Velcro was wrapped too tightly around her wrists. Plus, the rope noose that was attached to her neck was attached to her wrists, still. She tried moving her lips, desperate to at least get the tape off her mouth so that she could scream and make enough noise that someone would take notice to her being in danger. She moved her mouth around as much as she could, trying to form saliva to see if she could loosen the tape from her lips. However, she didn't stop moaning, since that was the only sound that she could make.

The rumbling of the car engine, however, overpowered the sounds she was trying to make. She kept her neck arched, nonetheless, because she knew if she gave up, she would be strangled from the rope around her neck. She let out another series of moans.

"Mmmmmmmph! MMMMMMMPH!"

In the driver's seat of the car transporting Rachel, the guard continued to drive off to no destination in particular. They knew that they just had to get out of town and away from the base as soon as possible. The driver turned up the volume on the radio to drown out the sounds of Rachel's muffled screams of terror.

"She just won't shut up," the driver commented as he turned the volume up louder as Rachel's muffled screams grew louder.

"Let's just be glad after this is done, she won't be our problem anymore," the guard in the passengers' side nodded. "Remember, the boss said we can do whatever we want to her, as long as she suffers."

One of the guards in the back of the car lit up a cigarette, smiling sickly as he heard Rachel's moans and muffled yells grow louder in volume. "Turn down the radio. I actually like listening to her screams."

"Are you kidding? With all that racket the mutie's making in there, if we don't drown out the sound, someone is gonna be on to us! You'll have plenty more opportunities to hear her scream when we do away with her," the driver said. "Who knows? Maybe I'll even allow you to have another turn with her before we kill her."

The guard smoking a cigarette grinned wider at the thought of being able to have another chance to rape the crying teenager again. "Okay, I like the sound of that," he said.

In the trunk, Rachel continued with trying to make as much noise as possible. Her sobs ripped through her whole body as she screamed and cried. She tried to slam her body against the trunk of the car, trying to see if she could catch anyone's attention. But it was no use. The sound of blaring music from the radio was drowning out her yells.

"MMMMMMMMMMMPH!" she moaned, forcing her voice to become louder.

* * *

The remaining members of the Mutant Underground and the X-men had just entered Louisiana. As far as they knew, they were coming closer. However, the closer they got to finding Rachel, the sicker Scott and Jean felt. None of them knew what time it was, but nobody cared. All Scott and Jean were focused on was finding their child.

As John Proudstar continued driving the truck, it took everything within him to concentrate on what he was trying to do. The fact that the FOH had gone out of their way to kidnap and torture a seventeen-year-old girl brought him nothing but feelings of anger. However, he was distracted from his thoughts when Marcos' voice came over the communications link.

" _John, do you think it's safe to say that we should stop?"_ Marcos asked.

"No, Marcos, we can't," John said.

" _We've been driving for hours now, John. We can't continue like this. We need to stop and rest,"_ Clarice said.

"And risk this girl potentially losing her life to the FOH?" John asked in a serious tone as Logan sat up straighter in his seat. "Look, we need to carry on. We need to at least get to Texas before we stop anywhere."

" _That I can agree on,"_ said Lauren tiredly.

" _Alright fine. Decision is final. We make it into Texas, and after that, we find someplace to stop for the night,"_ Clarice suggested.

"Agreed," Logan said with a shake of his head. As much as he hated the idea of needing to stop someplace, he also understood that the trucks were in a desperate need of a fill-up. They also needed their rest, as well.

The drive continued until they finally reached the outskirts of Texas. Stopping on the highway, John took notice that the trucks was in a need of gasoline. Getting out of the vehicle, he proceeded to fill it up with gas. Scott and Jean opened up the doors and stepped out, sitting down.

"I hate this as much as you guys do," John said as Marcos and Lauren came over.

"Yeah, we appreciate the sentiment," Jean said dryly as Scott's arm wrapped around her shoulders. "Christ," she added.

"At least we're closer than we were before," Lauren said, trying to be optimistic.

"I'll be optimistic when we find her," Scott said.

"John, even if she weren't using her powers actively, would you still be able to track her?" Marcos asked.

"I should be able to. I can try," John said.

That was when a car passed them on the highway, heading towards Louisiana. However, what was odd about it was the fact that music was blaring loudly from the speakers. It was enough to make John's eardrums shake. But he could pick up on other sounds, as well. He could pick up on something that sounded like moaning and whimpering, as well as heavy breathing and pounding. Additionally, Jean seemed to tense up as she heard a few different thoughts. Logan jumped out of the passenger's seat and sniffed the air.

"There's something not right," John said.

"Yeah. Who the hell listens to music that loudly from their car at this hour of the night?" Lauren asked incredulously.

"My only guess is, they're trying to hide something. We better track it," John surmised, running to the driver's seat of his truck. Marcos did the same. Putting the car on drive once everyone was in the truck, John and Marcos proceeded to follow the car that they had seen minutes ago. It wasn't hard to track, considering the music blaring from the speakers on the radio.

' _This isn't right,'_ Jean thought as she and Scott stood up to lean over to driver's chair of the truck. _'I feel there's something wrong here.'_

' _Me, too, Jean,'_ Scott told her.

Thanks to John's ability to track other individuals, as well as his enhanced senses, he was able to tail the car with ease. They followed the vehicle for a solid ten minutes, but that was when another red flag came up. The car began driving right into a wooded area; a place where no vehicles should be allowed at all.

"How much are you willing to bet that our answers lie there?" Jean asked.

"I was thinking the same thing," Logan said. Turning to Clarice who had just exited Marcos' truck, he said, "How far can you teleport?"

"As far as I'm able to see," Clarice said.

"Okay, well, we're going," Scott said, looking at Jean.

"If yer going, I'm going," Logan said.

"Watch my back?" Scott asked.

Logan nodded silently.

* * *

Meanwhile, the car transporting Rachel Summers came to a halting stop in the middle of the woods. The driver got out.

"Are you sure nobody was following us?" asked the one from the passenger's side of the car.

"Yes," the driver said. "Let's get this done. After we do what we do here, we leave her in the trunk, and ditch the car."

The other FOH members nodded. The driver opened the car trunk to reveal Rachel's shivering form. Her eyes widened in fear as one of the guards bent over, picked her up, got rid of the noose, and proceeded to get on top of her vulnerable body. He grabbed the diaper and yanked it down, before flipping her over and raping her for what would be the final time.

Rachel let out muffled screams as her tears continued to flow from her eyes. It seemed to go on for hours until finally, the guard got on his knees and pulled the diaper back up on her. The guards all pinned her down to the ground, and one of them pulled out a knife.

"The boss said do it slowly," said one of the guards.

"And it will be slow," the driver said, before raising the knife and plunging it into Rachel's stomach.

Rachel let out a loud scream that was muffled by the tape over her mouth as she felt the knife stabbing her. Blood gushed from the wound and stained the knife instantly. The guard twisted it, causing her to scream even louder as the guards lifted her and threw her in the car trunk, locking her inside before they ran off.

Rachel could feel her throat starting to fill with blood as dark spots filled her vision, however, she was determined to stay conscious.

The pain was unbearable, but she was fading slowly. The chief had promised her she would suffer . . . that she would die slowly and painfully.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Be sure to REVIEW! Also, check out my stories Peace in Our Time and The Evolution Project. All I can say about what's to come next is, just hang in there and see what happens. -**

 **DC-MarvelGirl 1997**


	8. Chapter 7

"I can't believe that I am looking for my kid, in the woods," Scott said with a heavy sigh as he shook his head as he, Logan, Jean, and John pushed their way through the heavily wooded area, looking for any sign of Rachel.

"I can't believe it, either," Logan said as he sniffed the air for any sign of Rachel's scent. He knew no doubt that her scent would be unrecognizable, considering the amount of rapes she had to endure over the years. But he knew if anything, he would smell something pungent that would give away the kid's location.

John continued trying to sense her. All he kept getting was images of a red-headed teenager tied up in the trunk of a car, screaming. It was an image that brought a feeling of sickness to his stomach as they continued walking, pushing their way through.

Suddenly, that was when a strong, metallic smell filled Logan's nostrils, as well as the scent of sweat. John's enhanced hearing picked up on distinctive choking noises as they continued walking. That was when Logan smelled scents of bodily fluids that were strong and heavy.

"Logan, do you smell anything?" Scott asked as suddenly, Jean was kneeling over, letting out a low moan as her eyes clamped shut with pain that filled her head, tears stinging in her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I do," Logan breathed. Taking another deep sniff as Scott moved to kneel next to his wife, Logan could hear weak moans and muffled coughs.

' _Scott . . . Scott I – I can sense her,'_ Jean told Scott weakly, rubbing her aching head as Logan continued to press forward. Scott helped his wife rise to her feet as they started following Logan in what would hopefully be Rachel's direction.

Jean started feeling her stomach roll with sickness as they continued venturing through the woods, breathing hard as Scott supported her against his side. She could feel the overwhelming pain in her mind as she heard distinctive thoughts filling her mind.

' _It . . . It hurts . . . everything h-hurts . . .'_

Jean swallowed hard as she fought against the urge to throw up. Finally, as they rounded a corner, they saw a card parked there. The fact that a car was parked in the middle of the woods was a red flag, not to mention it was the same one that passed them as they were on the highway.

Logan was hit with the strong scent again, and it was enough to make him feel sick, as well. Running forward, he extracted his claws and shoved them into the gap to get the trunk open. As Jean, Scott, and John came up behind him, he got the car trunk open, only to be greeted with the sight he'd hoped he wouldn't have to see.

In the car trunk lay a severely underweight, sickly-looking, bruised red-headed girl, about sixteen or seventeen, covered head to toe in wounds. Her eyes were half-way closed and dazed as her entire body shivered violently. She was naked, save for a diaper covering the lower half of her. Duct tape was covering her mouth, and her ankles and wrists were tied up tightly, a collar around her neck. As Jean leaned over to look at her, it was like looking into her own eyes. Tears stung in her eyes as she cupped the girl's cheek in the palm of her hand. That was when she took notice to the stab wound in the girl's stomach.

Scott acted on instinct, ripping his shirt off over his head and handing it to Jean, who grabbed it and wrapped it around the knife sticking out of Rachel's stomach, pressing down to put pressure on the wound. The shirt instantly began staining with blood.

' _Oh, oh, my baby,'_ Jean thought, continuing to put pressure on the wound out of effort to stop the bleeding. Scott knelt beside her and reached for the tape covering Rachel's mouth, gently peeling it off. He could see she was coughing up blood as she desperately tried to stay conscious. He could also see it appeared as though Rachel was trying to speak despite the blood pouring from her mouth. Scott leaned a hand on Rachel's head, his fingers brushing through her hair as he tried shushing her.

"Shh . . . don't talk. Rachel, don't talk right now," he whispered. "It's okay, now. Mom and I are here. I'm right here, honey."

Logan had already ripped off his jacket, handing it to Jean so that she had something else to press down on the stab wound. Suddenly, that was when another scent filled the air. He could hear panting breaths and cursing not far away, and could smell a scent relatively similar to the scent covering Rachel's body. It instantly brought him a feeling of rage simmering in his stomach as he prepared to follow the scent through the woods. Scott seemed to sense this from Logan, as well, because as soon as Logan took off running, Scott ran after him.

"Scott, where are you going?" Jean yelled out to her husband.

Scott's body was shaking with rage as it dawned upon him that his daughter's abusers were somewhere nearby. "Ending this," he said, before he and Logan took off running.

Jean shook her head, continuing to apply pressure to the stab wound, which was continuing to flow heavily with blood.

John leaned over. "Should I go after them?"

"Just make sure that they don't do anything stupid. Because . . . I don't want Scott doing anything, he might regret later," Jean replied, continuing to focus on stopping the bleeding from Rachel's stomach. Rachel let out a slightly strangled scream as Jean pressed down harder, blood continuing to flow from her mouth.

Turning to her daughter, Jean whispered, "Shhh . . . shhh . . . sweetheart, baby look at me. Eyes on me . . . I'm just trying to stop the bleeding. Alright? We'll get out of here. Daddy and I are gonna take care of you."

Meanwhile, Logan and Scott were taking off running through the woods as they tried to track down the bastards that had done this to Scott's child. Logan continued sniffing them out as Scott followed him. Suddenly, they could see the sight of several people wearing "FOH" uniforms running.

Scott let out a yell as he ran over, tackling one of them down to the ground and grabbing the man by the arm, angrily snapping it and breaking it. He grabbed the man by his neck and forcefully made him face him.

"Listen, you lowlife piece of _shit,_ " he spat, making sure to spit in the man's face to further make his point. "The only reason I'm not breaking your _fucking_ neck is that my child is still alive! Consider yourself lucky that I'm letting you live, especially after what you've done!" He grabbed the man's other arm and broke it as well, hearing the man's screams. Looking up, he saw Logan had already stabbed the others to death. Looking down at the man whose arms he'd just broken, Scott punched him as hard as he could in the face, knocking him out. Suddenly, that was when John came in, kneeling beside Scott.

"You didn't –?" John started asking.

"No, I didn't," Scott spat, glaring down at the FOH member he'd jumped. "But he deserved it, considering –"

"I know," John said with a heavy sigh. "It's revolting, I know. But your daughter needs you. Consider that."

Scott nodded as he noticed Logan coming over, covered in the men's blood. "They got what they deserved," Logan growled with a shake of his head.

"All things considered," Scott said darkly. Getting up from the ground, he and Logan begrudgingly walked back to where Jean was. When they arrived, they could see Jean was desperately trying to still stop the bleeding from the stab wound. As Scott went back to kneel beside his wife and daughter, he could see Rachel's body was convulsing in pain, her face permeated with a pained expression as tears stung in her eyes.

"It's not slowing down," Jean said with a shake of her head. "John, can Clarice teleport us to the clinic?"

"Yeah, it's a place she's been before. It shouldn't be a problem for her," John said. Pulling out his phone, he proceeded to call Clarice. "Clarice, we need you here right now. We found the kid but it's not looking good. We've gotta get Rachel to Caitlin what she needs is a hospital."

" _Alright, John. Will do."_

Before they knew it, one of Clarice's portals opened to reveal the interior of the clinic Caitlin worked in.

"Alright, time to move." Scott carefully moved forward to get Rachel out of the trunk of the car as Logan moved in to cut her ankles and knees free. Once Rachel was in Scott's arms, Logan got her arms and wrists cut free, as well. Before he could step into the portal, he felt Logan resting a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll meet you back there in a few," he said.

Scott nodded and he and Jean stepped into the portal, arriving before Caitlin's eyes, who was standing there waiting for them. Thankfully, the medical table was already cleared, something Scott was thankful for as he laid Rachel down on the table, backing away to allow Jean and Caitlin to begin their work. Jean put gloves on after having thoroughly washed her hands with hot water and soap. She started with removing the diaper and throwing it away into a nearby garbage bag.

"Alright let's start this," she murmured, telekinetically retrieving a needle with a sedative that was nearby, injecting it into the crook of Rachel's arm where there weren't too many bruises. She watched as her daughter's eyes slowly slid closed, before retrieving various tools to start performing surgery to get the knife out.

"Scott," she said. "You might want to step out. This isn't going to be anything pretty."

Scott nodded and proceeded to walk shakily out of the room, before running to the bathroom across the hall as the nausea overcame him. He leaned over the sink began vomiting, coughing hard as he spat the bile into the sink, tears stinging in his eyes as his body shuddered. Quiet sobs escaped his throat as he sunk to the floor. He burrowed his face deeply into his knees as he let out a strangled cry he hadn't realized he'd been holding in. Before he knew it, he felt hands pulling him up to his feet and two strong arms wrapping around him as he gasped for air.

He didn't even care that it was Logan hugging him at that moment, having come in with a fresh shirt for him to put on. For Scott, it was an irony that the man he considered to be his rival had his arms around him. It seemed as though the events of finding Rachel had erased any form of past resentment he and Logan had once held toward one another. Scott just sobbed violently into Logan's shoulder as the feral mutant rubbed his back in a soothing way.

Meanwhile, in the OR, Caitlin and Jean were in the process of surgically removing the knife from Rachel's abdomen. Lauren was in the room as well, wearing gloves of her own after having arrived with some of her clothes for Rachel to wear; a fresh pair of underwear, some socks, sweatpants, and a t-shirt.

However, what concerned Jean the most was the blood clots that were open, causing Rachel to bleed heavily.

"Lauren," Caitlin said. "We can use your help."

"How?" Jean asked.

"Don't worry I know what to do." Lauren concentrated her powers to push the air together in the form of ball the size of a pearl, placing it where the worst blood clot was in order to seal it and prevent further bleeding.

Jean looked over at Lauren and whispered, "Thanks."

Lauren nodded silently as Jean and Caitlin stitched up the wounds and bandaged them.

"Alright, that's done," Caitlin said. "Do you want to do the full rape kit, or –?"

"We've got no choice," Jean said. "As much as I hate this, it needs to be done. We should start with the genital injury first, as well as other internal injuries, because there's chances there could be damage done to the lower GI . . . bowels."

Caitlin nodded in understanding as they began collecting evidence of rape, gathering samples of hair, saliva, dirt under finger nails, and using Lauren's cell phone to take photos of the bite marks and other injuries Rachel sustained. Then, it was time to examine the lower GI. Jean quickly retrieved the equipment necessary; unfortunately, due to the limited amount of equipment in mutant-friendly clinics, they had to work with what they had.

"I think an enema would be necessary," Jean said. "Because at this point we do not know if there is pressure on the bowels, and the best way to tell is with this."

"Yeah, I know. But this _isn't_ what they show you on _Chicago MD,_ " Caitlin said.

"Because on-screen blood is one thing. On-screen shit is another," Jean said with a heavy sigh as she filled an IV bag with warm water and anti-bacterial soap to attach to the colonic tubing. She took off the plastic gloves and replaced them with fresh ones. She and Caitlin proceeded to lay the towels underneath Rachel's body after turning her over. Jean carried on with the necessary steps to perform the enema.

"Here it comes," whispered Jean. Pulling out the enema tube, what happened afterwards was exactly what Jean had expected to see. Defecation, blood, and other fluids came pouring out onto the towels. Gathering the towels up, Jean and Caitlin tossed the dirty towels into plastic bio-hazard bags, and repeated the process until there was only a small amount of pink left behind due to the residual blood. Jean reached over and slathered antibiotic ointment on before stitching Rachel up. She then put her focus and attention on any broken bones there might have been. She began taking care of an open fracture Rachel had in her right leg, cleaning the wound, stitching it up, and wrapping it in bandages. She got Rachel's broken fingers in braces.

"Let's get some clothes on her," Caitlin whispered once Jean was finished tending to Rachel's other injuries.

Jean nodded after disinfecting and wrapping Rachel's cigarette-burnt arm up in gauze. She grabbed the clothes Lauren had gotten out of her closet for Rachel to wear. She started with putting on the underwear and pants, before pulling the shirt over Rachel's head.

Reaching over for the blankets that were there, she turned Rachel over and wrapped the blankets over her body. She got an IV filled with fluids attached to Rachel's left hand in order to feed her nutrients.

"Are you going to remove the collar?" Caitlin asked.

"Yes, after I block her powers. Because this collar, they'd used it to block her powers for God only knows how long. If I take it off before I block her telepathy and telekinesis away, it could cause her to fall into a coma due to the shock of her powers coming back," Jean explained.

Caitlin nodded.

"And thank you, by the way," Jean added. "Because, there is no way I could have done this by myself."

"You're welcome," Caitlin said. "Want me to get your husband?"

"Yes. I'd like for us both to be here when she wakes up," Jean said with a nod. She and Lauren worked together to maneuver Rachel over to one of the beds in the room. Jean hooked Rachel up to some breathing tubes to get oxygen into her lungs. Smoothing a hand over Rachel's forehead, Jean pressed a loving kiss to the top of her head.

"You're safe now, sweetheart," Jean whispered. "You're home."

Jean could feel her eyes burning with tears as she felt Scott coming up behind her, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

"She's home where she belongs, now," Scott murmured.

"But . . . But will she b-be the – the s-same?" Jean choked.

"We will cross that bridge when we get there. We'll help her," Scott said.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Be sure to REVIEW! Also, be sure to check out my story I am doing in collaboration with MarvelMaster 616 titled Peace in Our Time, as well as my story The Evolution Project!**


	9. Chapter 8

The sounds of beeping filled the air as she slowly came to consciousness.

Her throat felt as though she'd swallowed a tennis ball. Her limbs felt heavy and weak.

Then, she could hear whispers over her head.

"I – my biggest fear is that she doesn't remember me."

"I know. The last time we saw her . . . how old was she?"

"I think maybe six. God, Jean . . . why did this have to happen to her? She's – She's _seventeen_ for Christ sake!"

None of these words were making sense to her as her head pounded painfully. Her throat was completely dry and felt as if it were stuffed with cotton.

Then, she took stock of where she was even though her eyes weren't open. She felt she was laying on a mattress, with thick blankets wrapped around her body. Her head was propped up by pillows. The environment smelled sterile; of Bleach. She also felt she was laying on her back.

That was a good thing.

She would never be able to sleep on her stomach ever again.

However, that was when she continued to hear the whispers.

"I just . . . I'm worried she'll . . . that she'll be scared of me."

"Scott, before all this she loved you so much."

"But years of abuse can change that."

"You do not know that yet."

Rachel knew who these people were.

She knew they were her mother and father. She knew she was in a hospital; that she wasn't bleeding out and dying in a car trunk tied up and gagged.

She knew to an extent that she was safe.

She remembered how her mother had been growing up. Whenever she fell and hurt herself, her mother would be there with soft hands, cleaning the scraped knee or kissing her head when she bumped it against a table. She knew she could no doubt trust her mom, and her dad, too. From the moment she was born, her dad had been her protector. She remembered how he'd hold her. He'd loved being seen out in public with her, playing with her and letting her sit up on his shoulders so that she could pretend she could reach the clouds.

Rachel let out a low moan, before whispering, "D-Daddy?"

Scott and Jean turned their attention toward Rachel's hospital bed, noticing her stirring and struggling to open her eyes. Scott, realizing his daughter had called to him, moved to sit at the edge of the bed, reaching over and stroking her hair.

"Sweetheart?" he whispered to her.

Rachel let out another whimper, this time saying, "M-Mom – Mommy?"

Jean knelt beside Rachel, cradling her daughter's cheek into her hand. "We're here. We're right here."

Rachel whimpered again as she tried to get her eyes open. But then she took notice to the bright lights of the hospital room stabbing at her eyelids. Suddenly, the lights turned down to being dim, easing it for her.

"Take it easy," Scott whispered. "Don't rush. Go slow."

Rachel moaned again, slowly getting her eyelids open to peer up at her parents. She struggled to swallow as Scott reached for a bottle of water with a straw.

"Drink," he told her gently. Jean adjusted the bed so Rachel could be slightly in a sitting position. Scott pressed the straw to his daughter's lips and she drank willingly. The water tasted slightly metallic, but it got rid of the dryness.

"H-How are you feeling?" asked Jean gently.

Rachel turned to look towards her mom, feeling her eyes beginning to burn as she struggled not to cry. But her lower lip was trembling as she felt her eyes starting to water. Jean got up and moved so that she was sitting in the bed next to her daughter, an arm coming around sliding around Rachel's shoulders. As soon as Rachel felt her mom's arms coming around her to embrace her, she lost it.

Rachel buried her face into her mom's shirt as she her shoulders shook violently, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks as she started to sob, gasping for air. For years, she'd dreamed of this happening. For the past year, she'd prayed for this to happen. She'd prayed that someone would come for her.

Now, it had finally happened. She couldn't believe that it was real. But she knew it was real as she felt her mom rubbing her back lovingly, kissing her on the top of her head. She felt Scott taking her by the hand, squeezing soothingly. She felt her mom reaching over to the bedside table for something, placing a pill into her mouth before having her drink some more water.

"I just wanted to give you that, just in case to prevent pregnancy," Jean explained as Rachel continued to sob into her shirt.

Suddenly, that was when Rachel was hit with a feeling of severe nausea, her stomach starting to roll hard. As soon as Scott heard the gagging noises escaping, he quickly reached over to grab a trash bin, placing it underneath Rachel's chin. She started to throw up, Jean holding her hair back.

"Easy, sweetheart," Jean whispered.

Rachel continued to wretch until there wasn't anything in her stomach. She spit hard before laying back into Jean's arms. As she closed her eyes, she could hear her dad asking, "How could she have thrown up? She hadn't eaten anything."

"It was probably a bad reaction to the medication," Jean explained. "I'll ask Caitlin to bring her something to help with the nausea in a little bit. But I doubt that she's pregnant. I don't think there's a possibility of that because the trauma from everything blocked her hormonal cycle."

Rachel tried taking a deep breath as tears continued to stream down her cheeks. She still felt sick as Jean pressed a hand to her forehead.

Scott leaned over to look at his daughter. "What can we do to make this more comfortable for you, honey?" he asked her.

Rachel could feel more tears burning in her eyes. It was a question she hadn't expected. But she answered with, "C-Can I – I t-take a – a shower?"

Jean nodded. "Of course, you can," she said gently. "I'll help you. Then you can sleep for as long as you like, okay?"

Jean very gently began removing the tubes and wires, before nodding to her husband. Scott leaned over the bed and slid his arms under Rachel's shoulders and knees, cradling her and carrying her to the small bathroom down the hall. He settled her onto a toilet before exiting, allowing for Jean to help get Rachel into the shower so she could get clean.

Jean walked over and gently helped Rachel undress, wrapping her casts and bandages with plastic coverings, before passing an arm around her waist, half-carrying her toward the shower, which was running with steaming, warm water. As soon as Rachel was seated in a chair and underneath the flowing water from the shower, she burst into a fit of sobs as Jean undressed to help her get clean.

Jean reached for the bar soap and began to gently clean her daughter up. Rachel leaned her head back under the water, continuing to sob horribly.

"You were looking forward to this, weren't you?" Jean asked, sympathetically as she cleaned Rachel's body.

Rachel nodded, tears streaming down her face and mixing with the water flowing over her head. For the past year, she dreamed of having a shower. Now, it felt like the most liberating thing in the world as she felt her mother massaging shampoo into her scalp to cleanse away the grime and greasiness that was there. But Jean knew this was far to be the only shower Rachel would have.

By the time the shampoo and conditioner were rinsed out completely, Rachel still didn't feel entirely clean. She felt she'd never feel clean again. Before she knew it, the water was turning off, but that didn't stop her from begging.

"Please . . . _please,_ I – I w-want to – I want . . ." she choked.

"You can take another one soon," Jean whispered. "Let's get you dried off and dressed, alright?"

Rachel shook her head as Jean reached for some towels, beginning to dry Rachel off first before drying herself off. Jean got dressed first before reaching for the clothes, pulling the shirt over Rachel's head. She helped Rachel slide on the underwear and sweatpants, before helping her stand, wrapping both arms around her waist.

"Put your arms around my neck, baby," she said.

Rachel let out a sob as her arms weakly wrapped around her mom's neck, allowing her mother to support her towards the hospital room. As soon as she was in the doorway, she felt her father scooping her up into his arms to carry her back to bed. Scott settled her on his lap, hugging her close to him. He kissed her head gently as Jean sat by them. She then felt something soft brush against her skin. Looking down, she noticed her mom was holding a stuffed bear. Knowing her father, he'd bought it for her while she'd been asleep. She weakly took it, feeling the fuzziness of the stuffed animal against her hand as she clutched it. It caused her to cry harder.

Jean reached for a hairbrush and gently began brushing Rachel's hair, trying to get the knots out of her hair.

Rachel sobbed into her dad's chest, feeling him rocking her and kissing her.

"Shhhhh," Scott whispered. "Shhhhhh calm down. You're safe, now, sweetie. I promise. Daddy's here now."

Jean rubbed Rachel's back soothingly as she and her husband tried easing their daughter back to sleep. As they sat there, continuing trying to calm their traumatized child, Caitlin came into the room.

Jean silently told Caitlin, with her eyes, that now wasn't a good time. But Caitlin knew now that Rachel was awake the girl had to be examined.

"Jean, we have to –"

"I know, but now's not a good time," Jean said, focusing on comforting her daughter whose sobs were beginning to die down.

"I just want to check her vitals, quickly," Caitlin said.

"I'll do it," Jean insisted. "For now, I don't want anyone touching her except me. She trusts me."

Caitlin nodded her understanding as Rachel's sobs turned into whimpers and sniffles. As she slowly calmed down, Rachel turned her head up to look at her mom with tear-filled eyes before her eyes closed. Scott moved to get her back in bed, wrapping the blankets around her.

"When can we bring her back to the apartment complex?" Scott asked.

"When I feel comfortable with moving her," Jean said as she watched her daughter get drowsy, sleepiness there in her eyes as Jean kissed Rachel's forehead.

"I – I w-wanna go h-home," Rachel whimpered.

"I know," whispered Scott. "I know. But you need to stay until Mom feels comfortable releasing you. We're staying someplace, with what's left of the Mutant Underground. We'll get you sleeping in a bed in no time at all."

Rachel blinked the tears out of her eyes as her dad smoothed a hand over her forehead. She extended her arms toward her dad, and he leaned over, giving her a hug as he kissed her forehead. As Scott hugged her, they could hear Logan coming into the room. Rachel pressed her face further into her father's neck.

"Bad time?" Logan asked.

"Later, Logan," Scott said quietly, rubbing Rachel's back and trying to coax her to go to sleep. "Later. Right now I want to get her settled."

Logan nodded, exiting the room and leaving Scott and Jean alone with their child.

Finally, after years of separation, Scott, Jean, and Rachel were reunited.


	10. Chapter 9

Scott could feel an overwhelming exhaustion as he gently laid his daughter on the bed he and Jean had been sleeping in for the past few nights. He felt comforted knowing his daughter was safe, and that they had heavily sedated her before getting her to the apartment complex.

He got the blankets wrapped over her and sat down in the chair next to the bed, allowing a yawn to escape his lips. However, before he could completely nod off, he spared another glance at his daughter.

Rachel looked a lot better since she'd showered and had her injuries tended to. Now that she was clean, Scott understood thoroughly that that would be the first step towards her feeling somewhat normal. Rachel stirred slightly, her eyes managing to open a little.

Her stay in the hospital had been a total of three days, until Jean finally decided that that day was the appropriate time to move her. The last thing that they wanted was for Rachel to stay in one location for too long. The Friends of Humanity – and possibly the Purifiers – would be looking for her. They weren't going to just let her run. They were going to look for her until they killed her. Scott wasn't about to allow that to happen to his flesh and blood.

Luckily, they'd managed to avoid possibility of pregnancy by giving Rachel emergency contraception through the IV. However, Jean thoroughly understood Rachel's stomach wasn't going to be able to handle much solid food. Between the heavy, deep bruises on her stomach, and the fact that she'd had to have an enema, Rachel would have no choice but to be on a diet of liquids only until she could digest solids again. For Scott, he knew how painful this was going to be for his daughter. He knew that the thought of her needing to live off canned soup and gelatin wasn't going to be appealing to her.

Rachel let a moan past her lips, and it alerted Scott to rise from his seat as he saw her attempting at sitting up.

"Rachel, Rachel, no," he murmured. "Rest, okay. You need to sleep."

"Dad, where are we?" she slurred out.

"We're in a safe place, alright?" Scott brushed some of her hair off her forehead. "No one's going to hurt you anymore. I promise."

Rachel closed her eyes, her cheek pressing into the pillow as she felt her dad grabbing her hand.

"I'm right here," Scott murmured, leaning forward and kissing his daughter on the forehead. "I'm not leaving you again."

A single tear made its way down Rachel's face as she whispered, "I missed you, Daddy," before she lost consciousness.

Scott closed his eyes. He'd missed her. He missed so much of her childhood as a result of what had occurred with 7/15. He couldn't help but regret that all those years, he hadn't spent any time with her. If anything, he knew now he wanted to spend every second with her to make up for all that time they'd lost.

"I missed you, too," he whispered, even though Rachel was fast asleep. He leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead just as Jean entered the room. She looked tired.

"I want her sleeping as long as possible," Jean said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "When she wakes up, I'll make sure she eats and takes something for the pain. Unfortunately, we don't have pain medicine that's very strong. John and Marcos told me that the only medical supplies they have here is aspirin. Things really have gone downhill. You would think we as X-men made things better."

"That was wishful thinking," Scott whispered as he watched his daughter sleep. "And look at where we are now. We never thought we'd be stuck in this. Though we've got an opportunity now to do something we hadn't been able to do. I can finally get the chance to spend some time with my kid."

Jean nodded in agreement. "I like the sound of that," she murmured. She carefully moved a pillow underneath Rachel's broken leg to elevate it. She gently smoothed a hand over her daughter's forehead. She could see Rachel starting to tense underneath her touch, and Rachel began moaning, her breathing starting to hitch.

"Shhh," Jean whispered. She proceeded to use her telepathy to try and soothe Rachel back to a peaceful sleep. Rachel moaned again as she opened her eyes. Jean had expected that, considering she was diagnosing Rachel as having PTSD.

Rachel looked towards her mom. However, Jean cut her off. "Bad dreams?" she murmured.

Rachel nodded as Jean moved over to sit on the bed next to her. Carefully, she positioned Rachel to lay her head on her lap. Rachel could feel Jean gently caressing her arm as tears threatened to come to her eyes once more.

"They – They h-hurt me e – every h-hour," she whispered.

Scott breathed out a sigh, moving to sit on the bed as well.

"Scott, can you get the strawberry out of the fridge?" asked Jean of her husband, knowing they had to get their daughter eating something before giving her pain medicine.

Scott nodded, before exiting the room. Walking into the living room space, he could see Esme Frost was seated on the couch, looking through the television channels.

"For what it's worth, how is she?" Esme asked.

Scott breathed out a sigh as he grabbed strawberry Jell-O, spoons, and a bottle of water. He knew his daughter. Years ago, she hated the taste of Jell-O. Not that he could blame her though; the artificial flavor and slimy, watery texture was vile. To say it was going to be a challenge getting her to eat was an understatement.

"Let's just say it will take her a long time. Physically, she'll recover. But the mind . . ." he started to say.

"Takes longer to heal," Esme finished. "I would know. I'd had to feel two of my sisters dying in my mind at the hands of employees at Creed Financial."

Scott sighed heavily. "It seems after 7/15, we all suffered worse. The X-men were supposed to be the thing to make things better for mutants. Now, all that we've built has gone to crap."

Esme nodded, closing her eyes as she kept the news playing on a low buzz as Scott left the room. Upon entering, he saw Jean positioning Rachel to sit up before she rose to her feet.

"I need to talk with Caitlin," Jean whispered. "We need to discuss where we go next, because we cannot just stay here; not when the FOH is out there. They aren't going to just let us run."

Scott nodded, and moved to take his wife's place on the bed. He opened the Jell-O cup. Rachel's face scrunched in disgust at the sight of the bright red, artificially-flavored substance.

"I know. I know you always hated this. And I hadn't expected that to change," Scott whispered to her, opening the Jell-O and getting a spoon inside it.

"I – I'd rather starve," Rachel whispered, her eyes fixated on what was about to go into her mouth. The artificial, strawberry taste of Jell-O was always something that she despised greatly.

"You know I can't allow that," Scott told her. "You need to at least have a little bit. You cannot have solids yet because your stomach isn't used to it."

Rachel shook her head, tears melting in her eyes as her father brought the spoon to her mouth. She clamped her mouth shut, sealing her lips and shaking her head. Tears flowed down her face as she protested it.

"C'mon, please try for me," Scott pleaded her gently.

"N – No," Rachel whimpered. "No, _p-please!_ Please, d-don't m-make me!" She broke into a quiet fit of sobs as she shook her head again.

"Rachel, please, baby you need to get your strength back," Scott told her, continuing to plead with her.

"I – I d-don't w-want it," Rachel gasped through her tears.

Scott sighed. He knew that this was going to be a difficult task trying to get Rachel to eat Jell-O. He knew how much she hated it. He moved the spoon away from Rachel's mouth.

"Okay, how about every bite you suffer, I'll suffer one with you?" he asked her, knowing he had to get his daughter eating somehow.

Rachel turned her head forward to face Scott. The last thing she wanted was the Jell-O anywhere near her mouth. But she also understood that she had no other option. She just nodded.

Scott sighed again, before getting the spoon to Rachel's mouth again. This time, Rachel opened her mouth, but she grimaced as she was forced to swallow down the artificial-strawberry-tasting slime. Once she swallowed, Scott picked up the second spoon and took his spoonful, eating some of the Jell-O, even though he hated it. If there was one thing he and his daughter had in common it would be their distaste for artificially-flavored anything.

As Scott ate his portion, he gave Rachel another spoonful of Jell-O. Rachel forced herself to swallow, even though she couldn't stand the taste. She watched as her father ate a little more of it, before he fed her more.

Together, the two finished the Jell-O off, and Scott placed the empty cup on the bedside table.

"I'm glad you ate it. I know that was hard," he murmured to her gently, rubbing her back gently.

Tears streamed down Rachel's face as she leaned into her dad, feeling him holding her. Her tears soaked into his shirt, but Scott didn't care. All he cared about was that he had his daughter in his arms, safe. He rocked her gently, and kissed her on her head.

"Rachel," he whispered. "Once you're healed, Mom and I will help you with some physical therapy. Also, I want to train you in something else, something I hope you won't have to use. But you need to learn how to defend yourself. I won't allow this to ever happen again, as long as I still have air in my lungs. I won't ever allow anyone to hurt you again."

Rachel nodded, tears continuing to soak into her dad's shirt as his arms tightened slightly around her.

* * *

In Caitlin, Lauren, and Andy's apartment, Jean was sitting on the couch with Caitlin while Lauren and Andy were gathering up some of Lauren's clothing they could lend to Rachel temporarily.

"How's she doing?" Caitlin asked.

"Not well, which is to be expected," Jean said, her hands cupped over a mug of tea. "She's – God what she got put through, I still can't believe it. But I do know that the FOH and the Purifiers aren't going to just let her run. They aren't going to stop, until they kill her. They want her dead. I can't have that happen."

Caitlin nodded, moving to sit closer to Jean. "Believe me; I've seen what the Purifiers are capable of. One of their members, Jace Turner, had worked with Sentinel Services in Atlanta and he also worked with the Hound Program. I saw how Hounds were used, how they were drugged into oblivion and were went to hunt mutants. They nearly used my kids to do that."

Tears filled Jean's eyes as she said, "I just . . . I can't believe that my _baby_ had to do that from the time she was a child. She – She barely knew anything about her powers, and she had to sense death happen."

"I know," Caitlin whispered. "I know what you're going through as a mother. But you did what you had to do in order to get your kid out of there. She's safe now."

"Yeah, now," Jean whispered. "But God forbid something else happens." Lauren exited her bedroom with a pile of sweatpants, underwear, socks, and shirts she'd managed to find for Rachel to wear, and proceeded to head down the hall to where Esme's apartment was located. Entering, she could hear Rachel sobbing in the bedroom, and Scott trying to soothe her lovingly. Opening the door to the bedroom, she could see Rachel was shaking violently in Scott's arms, crying. Scott had his arms wrapped around her, and had his hand rubbing up and down her back.

Lauren set the clothing down on a nearby chair, but she lingered at the sight. In a lot of ways, she felt jealous seeing Scott and Rachel together. But at the same time, she pushed that thought away. Even though she no longer had her dad there with here, she also knew Rachel's situation wasn't anything to envy at all. She knew that the girl was going through complete hell, and that she had suffered from an unbelievable amount of torture for over a year. Lauren had seen firsthand the damage that had been done to the teenager physically. Scott turned his head up to look in Lauren's direction.

"I was just leaving her some more clothes," she said.

"Thank you," Scott whispered, shifting slightly on the bed, kicking his shoes off before returning to comforting his sobbing daughter. However, Rachel could see from tilting her head up Lauren standing there in the room with them. Her body tensed, more tears making their way into her eyes.

"Shhhhhh, it's alright. Lauren won't hurt you," Scott whispered. "No one's going to hurt you."

Rachel just clung tighter to her dad's shirt, shaking her head as Lauren tried to come closer. She wanted to at least let the girl know she didn't have to be scared of her . . . that Lauren wasn't going to violate her the same way the Friends of Humanity did.

"I'm not them," Lauren whispered, kneeling beside the bed and placing her hand on it, making the first move. "I won't ever treat you like that. The Hound Program employees, they took me and my brother, too. They – They thought that they could use us, to make more mutants into weapons. And they nearly succeeded, too. I know how it feels."

Rachel shook her head as she felt Lauren rubbing her arm – the arm that had been burnt with cigarettes. Lauren got up and sat on the bed as Rachel continued crying. She patted the girl's knee soothingly.

"I know they hurt you. I saw what they did to you," Lauren whispered. "And I know you almost died. But it's over. It's done."

"N – No, there's – there's m-more out there l – like them," Rachel sobbed. "Th-They h-hurt m-me every – everyday! Th-They'll c – come back! They'll c-come back . . ."

"Shhhhh, they don't know where you are. They won't find you, not here," Scott whispered.

Rachel shook her head as Scott stroked her hair gently. They knew it was going to be a long time before Rachel recovered in any capacity.

Lauren inhaled a breath, before saying, "I just wanted to bring by more clothes for you. You can change into them after you have a shower."

Rachel tilted her head slightly from her dad's chest to look at Lauren. Why was this girl being so kind to her? She didn't even know her.

"W-Why?"

Lauren couldn't help but feel her heart breaking at the confusion in Rachel's tone. It was almost as though Rachel could hardly believe why someone was offering her clothes and food and a place to stay. Looking into the girl's eyes, Lauren could see Rachel felt she didn't deserve any of that. She could see the shame residing there . . . the self-hatred and disgust.

"Because no one deserves any of what had happened to you," Lauren said. "You did nothing to deserve any of it."

"B – But th-they s-said that – that I – I'll o-only b-be g – good for . . . for one thing." With those words said, Rachel broke down sobbing, her eyes closing as she burrowed her face into her dad's chest. Scott wrapped both arms around his trembling daughter while Lauren took the girl's hand into hers.

Scott silently allowed tears to fall from his eyes and down his face at the sound of his daughter's cries. He leaned his head back against the headboard of the bed, grieving for what had happened to his child as Lauren left the room. Leaning down, he kissed Rachel on the forehead to try and soothe her back to sleep. Softly, he began singing to her in her ear, hoping to calm her down.

 _Things are changing_

 _It seems strange and_

 _I need to figure this out_

 _You've got your life_

 _I got mine_

 _But you're all I cared about_

 _Yesterday we were laughing_

 _Today I'm left here asking_

 _Where has all the time gone now_

 _I'm left alone somehow_

 _Growing up and getting older_

 _I don't want to believe it's over_

 _Don't say goodbye_

 _Cause I don't wanna hear those words tonight_

 _Cause maybe it's not the end for you and I_

 _And although we knew_

 _This time would come for me and you_

 _Don't say anything tonight_

 _If you're gonna say goodbye_

 _Do you remember_

 _In December_

 _How we swore we'd never change_

 _Even though you're leaving_

 _That our feelings_

 _Would always stay the same_

 _I wish we could be laughing_

 _Instead I'm standing here asking_

 _Do we have to end this now_

 _Can we make it last somehow_

 _We both know what we've gotta say, not today_

 _Cause I don't wanna leave this way_

 _Don't say goodbye_

 _Cause I don't wanna hear those words tonight_

 _Cause maybe it's not the end for you and I_

 _And although we knew_

 _This time would come for me and you_

 _Don't say anything tonight_

 _If you're gonna say goodbye_

 _And if it's over_

 _It hurts but I'm giving you my word_

 _I hope that you're always_

 _Happy like we were_

 _Happy like we were_

 _Don't say goodbye_

 _Cause I don't wanna hear those words tonight_

 _Cause maybe it's not the end for you and I_

 _And although we knew_

 _This time would come for me and you_

 _Don't say anything tonight_

 _If you're gonna say goodbye_

 _Yesterday we were laughing (if you're gonna say goodbye)_

 _Today I'm left here asking (if you're gonna say goodbye)_

 _And although we knew this time would come for me and you_

 _Don't say anything tonight_

 _If you're gonna say goodbye_

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Be sure to REVIEW, and be sure to go and check out my story that I am writing in collaboration with MarvelMaster616 titled Peace in Our Time.**

 **Also, the song Scott sang to Rachel is "Don't Say Goodbye" by Skillet. I don't own any of the music placed here.**


	11. Chapter 10

" _Try that again, we kill you. Understand?"_

 _She choked, trying to get a sound out, but hardly able to due to the hands strangling her. The fingers were hard around her neck. Her wrists and ankles were tied tightly. She'd tried biting one of the guards to resist. This was why she was in this position._

 _The Hound program had disbanded, somehow. But the torture was continuing. Somehow, one of the members of the Hound program had been supporters of the FOH, and had smuggled her to this place. She'd been kept on the power-dampening collar, but she'd been tied up after being stripped of her clothes. Now, she was in here, in this cold, cramped environment with almost nothing around her. There was only a window, giving time of night and day._

 _It was day one of what would be a year of hell._

 _She could only nod, willing the guard to stop strangling her. He released her throat, and she coughed hard, trying to get in a breath._

" _Now, mutie," the guard said. "You're going to cooperate, or you will die. I promise you that, little bitch. And there's no use fighting. Mommy and Daddy aren't coming for you; they probably died with all the other muties, or they forgot about you. Now, you're going to do as I say." He began to unbutton his pants, nodding for the other guards to pin her and position her so that she was laying on her stomach. One of the guards lifted the gown up, pulling on her underwear as he unzipped his pants._

 _With that said, the guard in front of her thrust himself into her mouth, while the guard pinning her thrust into her from behind._

 _Tears filled her eyes and flew down her face as she let out strangled screams. She gagged against the feeling of this man in her throat. He gripped her hair and he pounded into her rhythmically while the guard taking her from behind followed suit._

 _Sobbing, Rachel couldn't help it as her face went red. Other guards in the room stood there, laughing and cheering it on as they smoked cigarettes. Finally, twenty minutes later, the FOH members got off of her, leaving her to collapse to the ground in a fit of sobs as she coughed, trying to get the disgusting fluids out of her mouth just as a gag got tied around her head. She was kicked in the face, causing her nose to break as blood spilled all over._

" _We'll be back for more," the guard spat, kicking her and breaking her ribs. "For a mutie freak, you were quite tight."_

* * *

"N – No . . . no!"

"Rachel, Rache, wake up."

"S – Stop it! Please!"

"Rachel!"

Rachel burst awake with a scream as she struggled to sit up. She felt arms wrapping around her and fingers running through her hair. She collapsed against Scott's chest, whimpering.

"Shhhhh, baby it was just a dream," Jean whispered, brushing some tears away from Rachel's cheeks. "It's over; you're okay. You're safe."

Rachel could only whimper as her dad slowly got her laying back down in the bed, just as John and Caitlin came into the room. Jean told them silently with her eyes to not come in further, and the two backed away slowly as Rachel sunk into her pillows. Jean tucked the blankets further around her, rubbing circles on her back.

"You just had a bad dream," Scott murmured, kissing his daughter's forehead. "It's okay; you can go back to sleep, sweetie. When you wake up, we'll be right here with you."

Rachel shook her head as Jean laid in the bed next to her, gathering her into her arms soothingly. She pulled Rachel to her chest and rubbed her back, coaxing her to sleep.

"I'll stay with you; I'll stay right here. I'm not going anywhere. I promise," Jean whispered.

Rachel just nodded, feeling her mom soothing her lovingly to coax her back to sleep.

"It's okay now. Mommy and I are here to protect you, honey," Scott whispered, reaching over for the stuffed teddy bear he'd gotten her when she'd been in the hospital. He watched as his daughter weakly reached for it, snuggling into the stuffed animal willingly. It was probably the softest thing she'd ever touched in years.

Slowly, Rachel's eyes closed as sleep washed over her. Even after she fell asleep again, Jean kept the teenager in her arms, holding her.

Scott closed his eyes, listening to his daughter's steady breathing. "Jean," he whispered.

"I know," Jean replied, laying her head down on the pillows.

"Jean, I'm not letting this happen again if I can help it," Scott whispered. "I hate to say this, but she needs to learn –"

"I know," Jean said. "I know she needs to learn self-defense. Once she's recovered and she gets her strength back, I want you and Logan teaching her. And I will train her on how to use her powers."

Scott nodded in agreement. "I agree," he said. "I won't let this happen again, if I can help it."

Jean kept stroking Rachel's hair and rubbing her back, even though she was fast asleep. They could hear Caitlin entering the room carefully.

"She had a nightmare," Jean said.

"And unfortunately, it won't be the only one," Caitlin said.

Scott sunk further into the chair that he was sitting in. "We need to do something about this," he murmured. "The fact that those FOH members managed to get away with this, and that they had the audacity to cause her to suffer this way . . ."

"And the fact that they're teamed up with the Purifiers," whispered Caitlin. "We saw how bad it got with the Purifiers. Jace Turner from Sentinel Services had joined them, and together they caused a bloodbath at one of the Underground's safe houses. Now, there is no more Underground."

Jean sighed, shaking her head as John cautiously came into the room just as she kissed the top of Rachel's head.

"I can't believe that it came to this," Jean said. "I can't believe that it's come to us all being hunted. And to think we joined the X-Men, because we thought it would make things better." She laughed dryly. "We were either very brave, or idiotic, to think we could change the world for our child."

"I think you're being too hard on yourself," John told her.

Scott shook his head. "We should've stayed home with her," he said. "Maybe if we did, she wouldn't be this way." He watched as his wife shifted her weight to adjust Rachel slightly.

"All you can do is try and help her move on," Caitlin said.

* * *

Jace Turner sat in the Purifiers' HQ at his desk, noticing everyone else who was in the room with him. He noticed several of the men were wearing the FOH uniforms.

Of course, he'd heard of the Friends of Humanity. He heard about their hateful actions against mutants. He'd heard about the things that they'd done. So when the Purifiers began working closely with them, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

' _Why does this feel wrong? Those mutants aren't human. For all we know, they were probably going to be the cause of a threat,'_ he thought. _'Just like with my daughter.'_

However, sitting there, Jace couldn't help but overhear a conversation between several FOH members.

"So, you made sure the whore died?"

"Yes; I sent my men to make sure that she died a slow and painful death. Though I've gotta tell you, it was fun hearing her squeal like a pig."

"Mutie bitch; the little slut was the daughter of that woman known as Phoenix, a cause of mass destruction. That whore's mother caused that Red Hook incident. Her being made a Hound wasn't nearly enough to keep her in line."

As soon as Jace heard those words, he felt a cold feeling form in the pit of his stomach. Somehow, he knew which one they were talking about.

It was the mutant named Rachel Summers. He remembered seeing her file when he'd been with Sentinel Services. Her file said that she was an extremely powerful telepath and telekinetic, and that she'd been part of the Hound Program since she was a child after the Xavier Institute blew up. She'd been collared by the feds, and had been forcefully drugged by the Hound agents. Apparently, now, she was a prisoner to the Friends of Humanity.

Hearing the words being said, Jace could only begin to wonder.

' _Did they . . . Oh, God,'_ he thought as he heard the conversation.

"The little bitch begged for it to happen. She was quite fun to fuck."

It confirmed his suspicions. Jace knew now that Rachel Summers had been raped by the FOH.

"How did you kill her?"

"Stabbed her, right through the stomach; for all we know, she's already dead."

"Good."

Jace could feel sickness filling his stomach at the thought.

' _Why does this feel so wrong?'_ he thought. _'She's a mutant. She's not human . . . but yet, she was raped, and probably beaten. Why do I feel bad? Why should I feel bad, after all the trouble her mother caused as a cosmic threat?'_

However, Jace could hardly take listening to the conversation. He got up, sprinting to the bathroom to empty the contents of his stomach. Hearing what those FOH members had done to Rachel Summers, a teenage girl, he couldn't help but think about his late daughter. He couldn't help but wonder if that ever happened to his little girl.

' _But my daughter wasn't a mutant,'_ he tried to convince himself. But he couldn't. He couldn't keep coming up with reasons to justify Rachel Summers being raped, beaten, and believed to be murdered. No matter how many excuses he tried to tell himself, now, he couldn't come up with any excuse. He couldn't come up with any justification for the Friends of Humanity's actions against a teenage girl, who had been dragged into a world of abuse from the time she was nothing more than a little girl.

Tears sprang to his eyes at the thought. He just hoped that the girl wasn't dead. He just hoped that someone had saved her.

* * *

The flowing shower water over her body cleansing her brought forth a feeling that was so human, it made Rachel sigh in relief.

Currently, her mother was helping her shower, washing her hair. A shower was such a simple thing, but Rachel wasn't about to take that for granted at all. In fact, she was more than willing to absorb the sensation of being clean for once.

She felt her hair being rinsed under the spray of the warm water. Shortly after, she felt her mom cleansing her with some bar soap, gently washing at her skin.

"That feel good?" Jean murmured as she allowed the water to rinse away the soap suds.

Rachel couldn't help but nod. It felt good to be clean, for once. Before she knew it, the water was turning off and Jean was towel drying her. She then felt a shirt being pulled over her head, and soon enough, Jean helped her into some fresh underwear and sweatpants. Once she was dressed, she felt strong arms lifting her and carrying her back to bed.

Rachel sighed as she leaned into her dad's chest, allowing him to carry her. She wrapped her arms around his neck willingly as she felt him kissing her forehead. She closed her eyes, sighing in contentment as her father settled her back in the bed again. They knew that they were slowly getting Rachel a little more comfortable.

However, they knew that they had a long way to go before Rachel trusted other people around her. They knew without any shadow of a doubt that the nightmares were going to continue for her. They knew that she was going to continue having PTSD. However, they also knew that they were going to be the quintessential part of her recovery.

Rachel felt her father brushing her hair carefully, getting the knots out. Her eyes filled with tears slightly.

"You remember how I used to do your hair?" Scott asked her.

Rachel nodded. "Yeah," she whispered. "Though you weren't the best at braiding. That was Mom and Auntie Ororo's department."

"But I always tried," Scott told her with a smile, kissing her head. He knew that Rachel only remembered the small things about her parents, such as how Scott did her hair, and Jean's cooking. Rachel felt her father's fingers brushing through her hair as he began gently tugging at it to try and braid it.

"I swear, Dad, if you mess this up," Rachel whispered, managing a small smile.

"I'll try not to, honey," Scott assured her. "Just let me know if I did well, or if I did terrible. You were always brutally honest."

Rachel felt tears flowing down her face as her father finished off the braid. "Okay, I think it turned out fine," he said, handing her a mirror to take a look. She could see the braid was slightly messy and her hair was still loose, but it didn't look completely terrible.

"That-That's actually n – not the worst y-you ever did," she managed to get out.

Scott leaned over, kissing her forehead before leaning in front of her, kissing her on the nose. He smiled at her gently. He saw Rachel trying to force a smile on her lips through her tears. Very gently, he pulled her into his arms for a firm hug, feeling her starting to shake.

"I – I m-missed y-you so much," Rachel sobbed.

"I know," Scott whispered. "I know, baby. I missed you, too. Mom's going to make you something to eat; probably broth. At least that's a step up from the Jell-O."

Rachel nodded into her dad's shirt as she sat up slowly.

"Once you're healed up I'll help with the physical therapy," he told her. "We'll get you moving around soon enough. Mom's considering giving you a blood transfusion with Logan's blood."

"If she thinks it'll help," Rachel sniffled.

"It should," Scott assured her. "You just need to rest a while longer." He laid her down gently against the pillows. "Love you."

Rachel nodded. "Love you, too," she whispered, more tears filling her eyes.

"You don't have to force a smile around me. Allow it to come back naturally with time," Scott suggested, wiping her tears away.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Be sure to REVIEW! And be sure to go support my series I am writing Peace in Our Time, and read the volume 2 reflections!**


End file.
